England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Herne St Martin

The Parish

The parish of Herne lies in northeastern Kent roughly 6 miles north of the city of Canterbury and forming a long stretch of the county's northern North Sea coastline. Herne sits upon the A291 which connects it and its coastal incarnation, Herne Bay, with Canterbury. At the time of this transcript Herne was a fairly large and largely linear village sitting on the A291 with its centre by St Martin's church, Herne Bay was a small fishing hamlet with open fields between the two. Herne sits to the north of the forests of East & West Blean Woods and their infertile soil was mainly used, in common, for light grazing, coppicing & other forestry practices, to the north were more fertile silty soils which became extensive arable farms, finally the coast was exploited for both fish & shellfish as well as coastal transport of goods making for a very varied economy. The arrival of the north Kent railway line brought intense change, coinciding, as it did, with the boom in sea-bathing in the early 19th century. Herne Bay grew from s small fishing hamlet to a premier seaside resort with a 1 kilometre pier allowing steamers to dock directly from London. The extensive sea front was developed and nowadays stretches as a continuous urban sea front for some 6 kilometres from west to east. The railway also brought growth to Herne, itself, commuting into the city of London became a possibility and growth extended northwards from the original centre toward the railway & the coastal road of the A299. Development has continued into modern times until Herne, together with Herne Bay and its other sub-centres, now forms a mass of urban properties extending inland for almost 3 kilometres in addition to the coastal range. Much of the drainage, by small streams, has been set underground and is largely sub-surface with only a few culverts directing the water into the nearby North Sea. Herne is sited on a rising coastal fringe with Herne Bay at little above sea-level whilst Herne is at 20 metres at the church, land continues rising southwards in fairly gentle slopes to around 60 metres with West Blean Wood. Herne parish was one of Kent's more extensive ones, covering just over 4,800 acres it was more typical of an upland parish than the southern largely arable one, within that acreage would have been a steadily growing population which had risen to over 3,000 by the end of this transcription period. Whilst Herne is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book an entry is present for the manor of Makinbrook which fell within the area of the parish, this entry is of such a grandiose scale it clearly refers to the region rather than a single manor as it records assets of 66 ploughs, extensive meadows & woodland and no fewer than 7 salthouses, all under the control of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Church

St Martin's church sits on the western side of the A291 as it passes through the original centre of Herne, it stands opposite the junction with School Lane and adjacent to the Red Lion Inn. There has been a church here since ancient times, the site has received an archaeological dig which revealed a small church consisting of a square nave & apsidal chancel which has been dated to Saxon or early Norman times and almost certainly pre-dates the Conquest. Today's church, by contrast, stands over that trace and is largely a church of the early 14th century. The present church, a large affair of an aisled nave and chancel, also aisled and with chapels, augmented with a oddly placed northwestern tower. In 1310 Herne became a vicarage of the archbishop's manor of Reculver and it is this event which, it is believed, commenced the building of the present edifice. Pevsner, rightly, points to that northwestern tower as the focus of interest for the church describing it as "outstandingly fine & substantial", it is made with 3 stages with much use of napped flints, squared off, and Thanet sandstone ashlar. The whole church makes good use of the Decorated style in which it was largely built and much is found in original state despite the attentions of the Victorian restorers. As is usual, following initial completion, work to change began soon after, the 15th & 16th centuries saw the walling of the chapel rebuilt, whilst no fewer than 4 phases of Victorian restoration are recorded by Pevsner bringing the usual 19th century changes. The church stands adjacent to a roundabout so parking in the immediate vicinity is impossible, street parking may be found on the route of the A291 further south. At the roundabout the main entrance is through an attractive lychgate and a fine avenue of chestnut trees. Despite closes attendance by properties to its south which restricts some of the angles available there are sufficient views to adequately satisfy the photographer.