England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Grain St James

The Parish

The parish of Grain lies in the extreme north of Kent forming a lengthy stretch of the county's northern coastline with both the Medway & Thames Estuary. Grain is located 12 miles northeast of the city of Rochester and stands at the eastern end of the B2001 which together with the A228 link it to Rochester. Grain stands as the only village on the Isle of Grain, an alluvial island formed off the eastern coastline of the Hoo Peninsula where the Medway Estuary meets that of the Thames. Early maps show simply a group of farms and cottages together with the parish church sitting around the end of the B2001 at the eastern end of the island. Today Grain has grown into a substantial village as a result of the infrastructure placed upon the island. Since the 1950s almost all of the south of the island has been covered by an oil refinery & power station, the north is a military training area and the village to a population of around 2,000. At the time of this transcript the island would have had a varied economy, the land was farmed largely pastorally, the estuaries exploited for both fish & shellfish whilst a local trade was supported by salt pans on the south of the island. Modern developments arrived to support the industry with a freight railway line linking to the main North Kent Railway lines from London. Virtually all of the drainage for the island is corralled by man-made dykes and ditches to the Yantley Creek which separates the island from the Hoo Peninsula and thus to the Thames estuary and the North Sea. Grain is sited at around 10 metres above the sea, the highest ground on the island with most of it only just above sea level. Grain parish covered the entire 3,100 acres and would have supported a population of about 350 parishioners. Grain is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St James' church sits just beyond the last property in the village with only the sea-side car park between it and the Thames Estuary. Much of the church is as a consequence of 19th and 20th century rebuild and additions but at its core is a 12th century Norman nave, to this basic church there is a 13th century Early English Gothic chancel showing characteristic lancets typical of that style. In a mixture of 12th and 13th century styling motifs the chancel arch is confusing as to its dating, Pevsner prefers the later date of the 13th century with old-fashioned elements from the 12th as an explanation. At the very end of the 13th century aisles were added to the church, they were removed in Georgian work of 1815 leaving the building scars marking their previous existence. There was much change in the early 20th century when a substantial phase lasting from 1903 through 1905 added the rather short southwestern tower, added the northeastern vestry with organ chamber and replaced virtually all of the nave windows. There is a small layby just before the churchyard gates allowing a relaxed visit, the churchyard is one with few obstacles for the photographer.