Wickhambreaux [pronounced 'Wickhambroo'] comes from the Old English ‘wīc-hām’ meaning
a ‘settlement associated with a Roman vicus’ combined with a personal name; therefore
a ‘homestead/village associated with a Romano-British settlement’. The affix comes
from the 13th century manorial de Brayhuse family, to distinguish it from East Wickham
and West Wickham. The Domesday Book chronicles Wickhambreaux as Wicheham.
Wickhambreaux parish church is a Grade: I listed building, dedicated to Saint Andrew.
In the second half of the 14th century, the Lords of the manor - the Earls of Kent
- rebuilt the Saxon and subsequent Norman churches. Samuel Knight cast and hung a
ring of six bells in 1728. In 1800, Edward Hasted described the Wickhambreaux church
as consisting ‘of three isles and one chancel, having at the west end a square tower,
in which hang six bells. The church is not large, but is handsome and neat’. The
Victorians carried out a sweeping restoration in 1868…. more
