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Visitors G1LIde to

St Peter's
Church

and the Village of

Bridge

Kent


Introduction

 

here is no mention of a village ol‘

Bridge in the Domesday Book of

1086, though there is a rel‘erence
to a ‘Hundred of Brige” which is thought
to have been a meeting point on the Re-
man road from London to Dover for vil-
lagers along the Nailbourne living in and
around the nearby parishes of Bish-
opsbourne, Patrixbourne and Bekes—
bourne, each of which has its own inedie—
val parish church.

Bridge has always been part of the
parish of Patrixbourne, and its church is
still technically a chapel-of-ease (chapel
annexe) to St Marys Patrixbourne.
which lies three quarters of a mile to the
east. There has been a chapel on this site
in Bridge since H89, and it was eiilarged
through the l2th and l3th centuries to
become a church, and because of its po-
sition alongside the main London to Do-
ver road it is likely to have been princi-
pally used by passing travellers to pray
for their protection and safe journeys.

Historically, the land comprising the
‘Hundred of Brige‘ was contained within
the manor of Blackinondsbury which was
part of the possessions 0|’ St Augustineis
Abbey in Canterbury, while in 1258
Bridge”s chapel was appropriated by
Archbishop Boniface to the Prior and
Convent ol Merton, Surrey, a situation
that continued until the dissolution of the
monasteries by Henry VII] in l538.

In the mid-l9th century, at a time ol‘
large Victorian congregations, St Peters
was massively restored and enlarged
principally through the generosity of Mrs
Mary Gregory oi‘ Bridge Hill, who was
the daughter of Nathaniel Pattison of
Congleton in Cheshire, whose family had
founded the first silk mill there in I752.

  

St Peter’s(?hurch Exterior
8 ChurChyard

s seen today the church is the result of
the extensive restoration work under-
taken in 1859-60 by the architect Giles
Gilbert Scott, when the outside of the walls were
completely refaced with dark knapped llint- a line
example of the Kentish craft, and Bathstone fac-
ings. Canterbury Archaeological Trust surveyed
the church in l994 and said that behind this Flint
facing the core ol‘ all the main walls must be ine-
dieval, with the exception of the Vestry on the
north-east side and most of the tower and its
stair-turret on the south-
east side. Also during the
restoration the north aisle
was enlarged by extending
it westwards, and the wall
of the south aisle was
raised to its present height.

There are two original
doorways, a small one lead-
ing to the Vestry in th
north east corner by the
side of the chancel showing '
deep chevron mouldings
and the west doorway ,
through which you enter the
church.

The west doorway is mid-to-late l2“‘ century,
and unlike virtually everything else on the exte-
rior, was not totally renewed in 1860, its line
moulding standing out in bold relief, with carved
capitals on the shafts and three weathered heads.
The 3-light west window above it is in the early
perpendicular style and the only late-medieval
survival dating from the late 14”‘ century and ap- 3
pears to contain much original stonework.

ll/'e.rl window, (op.
Wei’: c/(mrimy, ct/wove.

 
   
 
     
    
 
  
   
 
 
 
 
  
 
  
 
  
  


  

The original late l2th century tower had dete-
riorated to such an extent by the l7th or 18th cen-
turies that it had proved necessary to support it
with brick buttresses to the south-east and south-
west. But in the I85‘)-60 restoration it was com-
pletely rebuilt above its medieval base, with a
shingled spire and the addition of the south-east
stair turret. The tower is hung with a ring ol‘ three
bells, ol‘ which only the tenor bell, thought to
have been cast in the l4th century by William le
Belyetre of Canterbury. bears an inscription.
reading: ANE: MARIA: GRACIA: PLENA:
DUS: TECU.

The churchyard contains many interesting
headstones dating from the early l7th century.

and was extended to the west at the beginning of

the 20th century, and although teclmically lull
since the l‘)8()‘s, burials still occasionally take
place in family plots. Kent County Council took
over the responsibility for basic maintenance in
the l‘)‘)()‘s.

' '- 1‘ / ea window and Norman wmdow,v
A 01117 an L. 7

St Peter's Church Interior

t Peter‘s follows the traditional layout of

three aisles and a chancel with a wooden

barrel roof over the nave and plain wooden
roofs over the side aisles. From the surviving re-
mains Canterbury Archaeological Trust report
says that there is no doubt that the nave, chancel,
south aisle and tower base all date from the l2th
century, and though it is possible that the nave
may date from a century earlier there is no visible
evidence for this. The south aisle and tower were
added in the later l2th century, and the north aisle
and north-east transept chapel date lrem the early
13th century.

Though a small amount of Norman stonework
is visible. almost all of what is seen today is Vic-
torian work dating from the I85‘)-()0 restoration
when the south aisle wall was raised to its present
height. and the north aisle extended west. At one
time the eastern end of the north aisle was parti-
tioned oll‘ for use as a schoolroom.

The columns in the church are generally con-
sidered disproportionately large for the size ol‘
building. On the north side the arcade is of Four
bays with the four arches supported by unusual
coupled circular piers— formed from what may
once have been square shafts, and crowned with
floral capitals of Early English design. Pevsner
writes that they are in about the same scale as the
top two thirds of William de Sen”s piers at Can-
terbury Cathedral, but paired F.-W, not N—S_

The arcade on the south side is of three bays
and the three arches are considered fine speci-
mens of Early English work. The east end of the
south aisle contains a huge wheel window set
above two Norman windows which are deeply
splayed and filled with stained glass. The south

Double co/mum" in the mzrlh my/e. ulmvc.
Sam/7 ails‘/e wmc/ow. /we/aw.

 


 

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( ‘or/1i.v/'7 red .\'<:/‘/7:‘./'llI'l'Ic_/E)/‘ll, /76/Utl’.

aisle windows are unusual as the centre shafts
stand out by themselves in front of the glass. One
of them contains a stained glass memorial to the
memory of May, wife of Major Farwell of the
44”‘ Regiment and daughter of Mr & Mrs Winter
of Bridge Hill, who died in Madras in I882

On the north side of the tower there is a fine
stone arch with rich billet moulding supported by
grotesque heads. A board above the bclfry states
that the church and steeple were repaired by Sain-
uel Hills, churchwarden in 1787.

Standing on the floor 0F the tower the octago-
nal font is earved out of rare, and now unobtain-
able, Comish red serpentine marble, and is con-
sidered to be of outstanding workmanship. Un-
usually, the bowl is supported by a central pillar
itself surrounded by eight shafts, all in the same
material. The glass in the west window was in-
stalled to the memory of Dr Amelius Sieard who
died in 1880.

In the chance] on the north wall there is a fine

semi-circular Norman carving, all that
survives of a lost doorway, depicting
scenes from the Book of Genesis. One
sequence shows Adam and Eve in the
Garden of Eden listening to the Devil and I
then being driven out by an Angel, and 
another shows the story of Cain and Abel.

Below this carving is the figure of a
robed priest, believed to be Marcobus
Kasely a vicar until l5l2, apparently cut
in two and reclining in two small recesses.
The two carved scrolls on the opposite
side ofthe chancel may have been part of
his tomb.

There are several interesting tablets
within the church two of which are par-
ticularly interesting. In the middle ol‘ the
chancel tloor lies buried the second
daughter of Sir Dudley Bigges of Chilham
Castle who was Master of the Rolls in
I643, and in the lelt side aisle there is a
tablet to Mr Sieard who is one ol‘ the
many people who lived in the village of
Huguenot stock.

High on the east wall is a portrait attributed to

Cornelius Jansen, a noted painter at the time of
Charles I, who is known to have stayed with Sir
Arnold Braems at nearby Bridge Place. Sir
Arnold had settled in England from his native
Low Countries and made his fortune lirst as a
builder and then as liarbourmaster of Dover
docks, and there is a plaque to his first wife Jean
on the south chancel wall. Her memorial is
flanked by two marble carvings, on one side by a
skull through which a serpent entwines, and on
the other side by a coat of arms; these may be all
that remain of a once much larger tomb.

The Victorian organ dates From l86l) and is
typical of its period; it was renovated in 1975.
The church interior was repainted in 1998 by a
volunteer team drawn from the congregation .

/\1emor1'a/ Ia A/la/‘co/mv Ka,veley, cibave.
Sc1i// and L‘/‘0,\',rlmi1e,s‘ c(II‘v/rig, below.

 


The Village of Bridge

 

ridge is unique in being the only village

in the country with only that one word as

its name. The village straddles the old
Roman road known as Watling Street in a valley
where the seasonal Nailbourne stream flows
north out of the head of the Elham valley to turn
right angles east on its way out to the sea. Wat-
ling Street was constructed by the Romans to
serve as their overland route from Dover to Lon-
don via Rochester, and for almost 2000 years was
used by pilgrims, private and commercial travel-
lers, and not least by the military on their way to
and from battles on the Continent.

So from the earliest times Bridge became es-
tablished through its role in tending to the needs
of all this human traffic and their horses. due to
the availability of fresh water. the first they
would encounter before or after travelling over
the long high ridge of the downs to and from Do-
ver. lt was finally by—passed in 1976 to relieve
what had by then become intolerably and danger-
ously high levels of heavy articulated goods vehi-
cles to and from the continent, but only after pro-
testing villagers had created their own chaos by
blocking the High Street in a series of sit-in pro-
tests until the Government was forced to act.

Along with vast tracts of East Kent, the Gar-
den of England, hop growing in Bridge was a ma-
jor feature of agricult1ire in the sunounding coun-
tryside and covered an extensive acreage. Until
mechanisation was introduced in the l95()’s, at
harvest time for a fortnight every September large
numbers of hop pickers and their families trav-
elled down from south and east London, and lived
in specially built huts on the farms. Hops were a
very valuable commodity and for centuries were
subject to double tithes of 20 per cent which had

to be paid annually to the established Church
until the l92t)’s, when the system was abol-
ished by Parliament.

Although just under three miles from
Canterbury, Bridge boasts a wider variety of
amenities than most villages in the area, in-
cluding three public houses, the White
Horse- traditionally the travellers hostelry,
the Red liion— traditionally frequented by the
military, and the Plough and Harrow- still
very much the villagers’ pub. There is also a
surgery, veterinary practice, baker, news-
agent, hairdresser, photographers studio,
small supermarket, combined chemist and
post office/bank, restaurant, and night club.
All this combines to make Bridge an attrac-
tive and much sought after village in which

to live. which is reflected in its premium
property values.

The l‘)(>()”s saw three housing develop-
ments within the village: to the east in River-
side, parallel to the High Street, to the west
in Western Avenue, and to the south in
Bridge Down. Since then apart from infilling
there has been little housing built, although

 

Bridge H I g/1 Street looking no/'rh_/i‘am
H/‘eweiy Lane.


Iii‘/'0/ge High Street /oohrzg nor!/1_/rum

Iii"/i‘on,s' Wa//c

10

the local landowner Lord Conyghani is keen to
develop the land between Riverside and the by-
pass for affordable housing. In 2000 planning
permission was granted for a new surgery to be
built along the Patrixbournc Road to replace one
in the centre which had outgrown the practice.

In the winter of 2t)()—2()()l the Nailbourne rose
dramatically to cause extensive flooding in and
around the High Street.

   

Country Houses
Around Bridge

ridge is lbrtunate to have a number of
notable houses close to it. A little way
along the Bourne Park road, south—west
of the churchyard, lies Bridge Place which was
built in the l7th century by Sir Arnold Breams to
a large C shape plan using hand made Dutch
bricks he had imported through Sandwich At the
time it was the largest house in East Kent after
Chilham Castle and boasted a deer park and an

aviary. but its vast size made it uneconomic to
run, and in the lflll‘ century a new owner had all
but one wing pulled down. ln the early 19"‘ cen-
tury it belonged to Edward Taylor of nearby Bi-
frons, a friend of George IV, and also of novelist
Jane Austen; since the l96()”s it has been home to
Bridge Country Club.

Further along the same road about hall‘ a mile
from the village Bourne House can be glimpsed
set at the end ol‘ a long drive. An outstanding red
brick and stone Queen Anne mansion of line pro-
portions and listed Grade I, it is in private owner-
ship and not open to the public.

Higham Park ,which lies oil the top of Bridge
Hill to the south of the village, was extended in
the early 20th century by wrapping a new stone
classical style structure around three sides of a
much earlier building. l1 was inherited by Count
Louis Zborovski who built outrageously powerful
racing cars titted with First World War aero en-
gines made Famous by author lan Fleming in his
childrens story Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang. Also on
the estate to entertain his house party guests
Count Zborowski built a miniature scale steam
railway, and was active in the promotion of the
Romney, llythe and Dymnchureh Railway. The
house was commandeered by the Army in the
Second World War, and for some years after-
wards became a hospital annexe.

There was once a fourth house, Bifrons, which
stood halfway between Bridge and Patrixbourne;
it had been built in the mid—l7th century and re-
modelled by the Victorians 200 years later. It was
demolished after the Second World War during
which time, like Highain Park, it had been com-
mandeered by the army to augment Canterbury’s
extensive garrison.

In both World Wars Bridge was home to nu-
merous temporary training and transit camps for
large numbers of troops before they continued
their journey along the old Roman road to Dover
to fight on the Continent.

ll