England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Halling St John the Baptist

The Parish

The parish of Halling lies in northwestern Kent roughly 5 miles southwest of the city of Rochester. Halling sits on the A228 road which links Rochester with Tonbridge. Halling is a much gron village, nor largely linear and lining the A228 for over a mile it was, at the time of this transcript, confined to the immediate area around the church and the High Street, this area was then known as Lower Halling with Upper Halling a small hamlet to its west. Strip development has created a linear village paralleling the course of the River Medway. Whilst a typical farming community of the area with a mixture of both arable and pastoral methods it was the presence of chalk underlying the village that was the main income for the parish. The chalk was quarried extensively for conversion into lime, said to have been used in the construction of both Waterloo & London Bridges in the capital, a lime-works sat upon the banks of the Medway for its processing. Nowadays the vast chalk pit to the west of the village is flooded and a nature reserve and leisure facility. Modern developments have come to the parish, the railway line between Rochester and Maidstone passing through and granting Halling a station which has encouraged suburban development south of the village. Halling is drained northwards by the Medway which passes both Rochester & Chatham to reach the outer Thames Estuary and the North Sea. Halling is sited at around 10 metres above the sea at the High Street, to the west the chalk ridge rises abruptly to 196 metres on nearby Holly Hill. Covering just over 1,800 acres Halling parish was typically sized for its area, an acreage which would have supported a population of close to 450 parishioners. In Domesday times Halling was a holding of the Bishop of Rochester and offered 9 ploughs backed by typical meadows & woodland.

The Church

St John's church sits east of the High Street (the former A228 which now bypasses to the village's west) and almost on the banks of the Medway. The church began life in the 12th century as a simple early Norman nave and chancel, a church is mentioned in the Domesday entry and tufa quoins remain in the nave. The 13th century Early English Gothic period saw the church much expanded, the chancel was enlarged to 3-bays and there the characteristic lancet styled windows on both northern and southern faces to confirm the date. The western tower was the other main 13th century acquisition Further enlargement followed in the early 14th century as northern & southern aisles were added in the Decorated style. The Perpendicular era saw only the construction of the western doorway to the tower with buttressing added to provide additional support at the same 15th century date. Restoration began in the 18th century with the tower top stages acquiring brick dressings, that work was followed in the 19th century by a typical Victorian restoration of 188 wherein the 14th century aisles were replaced albeit re-using the Decorated styled windows. The High Street is much quieter now that the main road no longer passes through and has some parking to the south of the churchyard, the main entrance is through a lychgate opposite the Five Bells Inn giving access through shady tree cove to a more open churchyard, a modern development to the south impinges upon the favoured aspects but enough remains to satisfy the photographer.