England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bethersden St Margaret

The Parish

The parish of Bethersden lies in southern Kent roughly 6 miles west of the town of Ashford. Bethersden sits on and mostly north of the A28 road which links Ashford through Tenterden to Hastings in Sussex. Bethersden is a large village built around an oval of which the A28 forms the southern edge, The Street and Church Hill looping away and back to enclose the village centre. Bethersden sits within the eastern Weald, an area of poor quality soils which was often left as pasture as a consequence, the pastoral scene was interrupted by quarries of a local marble much used for decorative features in the local churches. Given the poor soils much land was in common and traditional Wealden practices such as besom manufacture and forest management for supply to the Wealden iron smelting industry also persisted into modern times. Bethersden is drained northwestwards by the infant River Bault which eventually joins the Medway at Yalding before turning north to pass through Maidstone and the Medway ports to reach the Outer Thames Estuary and the North Sea. Bethersden is sited at around 40 metres above the sea, a general height for this low-lying area of the Weald and only exceeded by reaching 60 metres at Tenterden. Bethersden parish was extensive, as befits its poor quality land, covering over 6,300 acres it was more reminiscent of a northern upland parish in size, that acreage would, however, have supported around 1,000 parishioners. Bethersden, like much of the Weald which was underpopulated at that time, is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Margaret's church sits on the northern edges of the village on the northern side of The Street. The church utilises much of the local ragstone in its construction, seen well in its western tower. The church is a product of the 14th and 15th centuries with the earliest fabric dating from the early 14th century, here the western window of the southern aisle betrays its origins in the Decorated period, a similar Decorated style window in the chancel indicates that too was begun in the early 14th century. Whilst that style is found in isolated pieces the majority theme of the church is of the later Perpendicular style. Build certainly continued throughout the 14th century but documentary and armorial evidence indicates a date of around 1430 to 1460 for the major remaining pieces. The western tower is of the earlier date, a mixture of both ragstone and the locally quarried marble and bearing a tall polygonal stair-turret at its southeastern corner. Adjacent to the Decorated styled chancel there are twin chapels to north and south of the later, 1460, date. The 15th century saw much re-work as the walls of the main body were heightened and most windows swapped for fashionable Perpendicular motifs. A typical Victorian restoration also was made, here in 1873, to complete today's church. Whilst The Street is quite narrow it is widely used for on-street parking allowing a relaxed visit. The churchyard is compact with the church sitting close to the southern boundary so better views are from across the street with the churchyard reasonably free of obstruction for closer views.