England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Bonnington St Rumwold

The Parish

The parish of Bonnington lies in southeastern Kent not too far from its English Channel coastline. Bonnington is located roughly 7 miles southeast of the industrial town of Ashford and sits a half mile north of the B2067 road which links Tenterden through towards Hythe following the edges of Romney Marsh as it does so. Bonnington is a dispersed village with no real centre, there are farms and cottages dotted across the higher ground north of the marsh over a broad skewed oblong shape. Indeed the only substantial block of settlement marks the former prison site of HMP Bonnington, now closed but with plans to develop for housing. Early gazetteers estimate the parish acreage as being weighted 2:1 in favour of pastoral methods, a fact less noticeable today with modern machinery. Modern developments have come to the parish in the form of a major military defensive feature, the Royal Military Canal formed to deter Napoleonic invasion and to enable rapid movement of troops and ammunition along the northern edges of Romney Marsh. Today it marks the route of the regional hiking trail of the Saxon Shore Way.  Whilst Bonnington sits above the marshes it takes little fall for water to join the complex web of man-made channels that drain the marshes largely into outflows such as that at St Mary's Bay. Bonnington is sited at between 30 and 60 metres on rising ground out of the marshes, to its east lies the isolated hillock of Aldington Knoll which tops out at 95 metres as the highest ground around. Covering just short of 1,100 acres Bonnington parish was one of the smaller in its county, that acreage supporting a population of close to 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Bonnington was a holding of Hugh de Montfort and equally rural and small as today, its assets of juts 3 ploughs and a patch of woodland being typical of such rural holdings.

The Church

St Rumwold's church sits over a mile south of the notional centre of Bonnington, almost on the banks of the Royal Military Canal and surrounded by acres of flat pastures and fields. Like many such isolated churches it is ancient too, the chancel is confidently dated to the 11th century and when viewed from the northeastern side complete unaltered since its construction over 1,000 years ago. The nave is substantially higher which is the result of a complete rebuild during the early 14th century, the Decorated era. Similar late medieval changes came in the later Perpendicular period when the timber northern porch was added probably in the early 15th century. The final flourish came in the 17th century then the weatherboarded turret complete with lead cupola was added to the western gable-end. Pevsner mentions no extensive Victorian restoration so we can imagine all was left as is during that restless period. Approaching from the north one is struck by the church standing east of a marked copse of trees, a rare feature in this flat and featureless landscape. A widened verge welcomes a c ar or two immediately north of the wooden gates and welcoming blue sign. Once through the screening copse a normal oblong churchyard appears, it is narrow from north to south so angle selection is key for the photographer to adequately record this relic of the past.