England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Loose All Saints

The Parish

The parish of Loose lies in western central Kent roughly 3 miles south of the county town of Maidstone. Loose, at the time of this transcript, was a fairly large village sitting on the A229 road, which links Maidstone southwards through Staplehurst & Hawkhurst. With time the expanding town of Maidstone has gradually crept nearer finally becoming contiguous with Loose in recent times. Loose is a rather scattered settlement, as Pevsner says it "is strewn about the side of a little combe". Early maps show the original village as grouped loosely around the church and to the west of the A229. Loose is very much in the "Garden of England" as mid-Kent is often referred, a notable farming crop being the fruit supplied to the capital, in addition the village grew the Kentish hops as well as normal arable produce. Within the village paper-making was an important industry employing a substantial proportion of the population. Loose is drained northwards by the small brook that runs along the Loose Valley, it meets the Medway at Maidstone and eventually the outer Thames Estuary through the naval port of Chatham. Loose is sited at around 70 metres above the sea, land rises southwards to the subsidiary escarpment formed by the underlying Greensand where local high spots rise to almos 120 metres before falling into the Weald. Loose parish was small in extent compared to most southern rural parishes, covering just under 1,000 acres it would nevertheless have supported a population of around 1,400 parishioners. Loose is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

All Saints' church sits on the northern side of Church Street within the oldest part of the village and a few hundred metres west of the A229. At the time of this transcript Loose was just a chapelry of its mother church in Maidstone, it was made a full parish in 1900 but was licensed for marriages between 1754 & 1837, if a marriage cannot be found then Maidstone is the most likely location for it to be found. Documentary evidence records that the church was "restored" as early as 1400 so must predate this, Pevsner points to the tower as being the earliest feature but declines to state a specific date, thew tower's position, to the west of the southern aisle is certainly an odd location. The Perpendicular chancel probably dates from the "restoration" it is definitively of the 15th century as is the core of the nave. Much else is as a result of Georgian & Victorian work, the 1820 work saw a northern aisle added whilst in 1860, along with a typical Victorian restoration, the southern equivalent was also added. Church Street is rather narrow and winding but is used by locals for careful parking. The churchyard entrance sits beside a prominent white-painted property and has both a broad access as well as a more typical gate. Sadly the churchyard is totally crowded with mature trees removing most aspects of the church from the photographer, a most challenging building to adequately capture.