England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Leigh St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Leigh lies in southwestern Kent not too far from its joint border with neighbouring Surrey and with Sussex. Leigh is located roughly 3 miles west of the town of Tonbridge and sits a mile west of the modern dual-carriageway highway that is the A21 linking London with Hastings. Leigh is a mid-sized and fairly compact village, the meandering B2027 from Tonbridge westwards passes through the village with most properties lying to the south thereof. Modern developments have enlarged the village largely as a consequence of the arrival of the railway which granted a station leading to both local and London-based commuting. Traditionally the land around was largely used for pastoral farming, that being supplemented by exploitation of the woodland resources prevalent in the Weald as well as the traditional orcharding and hop growing of the region. A peculiar specialty of the area was the manufacture of gun-powder, a useful product given the blasting required to pass the railway through. That railway, linking Tonbridge with London, neatly bisects the parish into two as it carves a straight west to east course. Leigh sits a half mile north of the River Medway which drains the parish eastwards and then eventually north to reach the Outer Thames estuary through the port of Chatham. Leigh is sited at around 30 metres above the sea in fairly gently undulating countryside of the Weald, local high spots within a couple of miles rarely exceed 100 metres as one heads southwards toward Speldhurst. Wealden parishes of often extensive, the poor soils requiring extra land to support the population, Leigh parish at almost 4,700 acres was one of such, the acreage supported a substantial population of close to 1,250 parishioners. Like much of The Weald Leigh has no entry in Domesday Book which is scant in the coverage within this former Royal hunting domain.

The Church

St Mary's church sits north of the B2027 accessed by a dead-end lane and roughly 150 metres from the High Street. Externally the church appears relatively modern with much 19th and 20th century work obscuring the medieval origins of the church. Pevsner's forensic examination of the interior, however, reveals an origin in the 13th century and in the Early English Gothic style. Originally the church of the 13th century had a 3-bay aisled nave but all but a single bay was demolished from the northern aisle in the 15th century. Also 13th century are the arches for the tower and chancel, the latter often the point at which building commenced. The chancel was the subject of 14th century rebuilding with Decorated styling utilised in that rebuild. The 19th century, however, saw major work on the church with most of the exterior refaced and large portions rebuilt including the church's centrepiece the bold western tower complete with its southeastern stair turret, the majority of the work being carried out in the early 1860s. Even as recent as 1995 the "Genner Rooms" were added replacing a 19th century vestry to complete today's church. Parking should be sought in the High Street and the church approached on foot, a short walk beside adjacent properties soon brings you to the extensive churchyard crossed by diagonal pathways, the churchyard has no obstacles and unrestricted views for the photographer.