History of St Mary in the Marsh

Kent Past

The History of Kent

Home Towns & Villages Time-Line Articles Kent Past Times Contact

Leave your email address to receive Kent Past Times free every month

St Mary in the Marsh comes from the Old English ‘cirice’ meaning a ‘church’ combined with a saint’s name; therefore ‘church dedicated to St Mary’, and later replacing the affix ‘church’ with ‘in the marsh’, to distinguish it from other villages similarly named.

St Mary in the Marsh parish church is a Grade: I listed building, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. The Normans built the church in the mid-late 12th century, with additions and extensions in the 100 years that followed. Around 1390, William Burford cast and hung a bell in the tower, with his son Robert adding a tenor a few years later, and John Danyell completing the three with a treble in 1450. In 1799, Edward Hasted described St Mary’s church as consisting of ‘three isles and one chancel, having a pointed turret steeple at the west end, in which hang three bells. It is very neat and kept clean’. Around 1910, an unknown architect carried out a careful restoration, including the replacing of the pews, together with various repairs…. more