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

The Parish

The parish of Meopham lies in northwestern Kent roughly 5 1/2 miles aouth of the port & town of Gravesend. Meopham sits on the A227 road which links Gravesend with Tonbridge. Meopham is a long linear village which spreads for almost 2 1/2 miles along the A227 with clumps forming periodically along that length, the northern end sits around the railway station and is largely a modern commuter settlement, after a short rural gap one comes to Meopham proper with the parish church and built around a staggered crossroads with east & west running lanes, that notional centre almost leads into Meopham Green dominated by its mill whilst over a mile further south lies Culverstone Green rising up towards the crest of the North Downs. The parish was dedicated to farming for almost the entirety of its existence, early gazetteers estimate 2/3rds of the parish acreage as arable with much woodland & meadow and some hop grounds. Modern developments arrived with the railway from London to Rochester which granted a station leading to the settlement of Meopham Station to the south of its line. Most of the parish lies on the gently rising chalk slopes which are porous thus there is very little by way of surface drainage, to the north small streams eventually break through taking water to the nearby outer Thames Estuary. The parish is characterised by its gentle rise up the chalk dip-slope from Meopham Station in the north at around 90 metres above the sea, Meopham is at 130 metres at the church whilst Cukverstone Green is at 170 metres, the Downs crest at 215 metres above neighbouring Trottiscliffe. Meopham parish was one of the larger in its area covering almost 4,700 acres which would have supported a population of close to 950 parishioners. Even in Domesday times Meopham was a substantial settlement its 113 households placing it well within the top 20% of settlements by population, held by the Archbishop of Canterbury its farming heritage is emphasised by its assets of 29 ploughs backed by typical meadows & woodland.

The Church

St John's church stands on the northern edge of the settlement of Meopham opposite to the lane that leads to New Ash Green. There is documentary evidence which names the church as "newly constructed" in 1325 and much of the church's architecture is consistent with that date. The chancel is perhaps the earliest feature with Pevsner dating it to the 3rd quarter of the 13th century, a period where Geometrical style bridged the fashion divide between Early English Gothic and Decorated. The Decorated style is shown well in the trefoiled lancets and shallow buttresses of the western tower, also from this period is the northern chancel chapel. Between the two is the nave which comes complete with a typical clerestory from the Perpendicular era, perhaps completed by the same period as the tower but modified in the later 14th century. The 19th century saw at least 3 phases of restoration by the Victorians, the first of 1837 added the topmost stages to the tower, the second of 1859 re-roofed the church whilst the 3rd of 1874 renewed most of the window tracery, at some indeterminate date both western and northern doorways were acquired. The church stands on the busy A227 road making on-street parking hazardous, the relative tranquility of Shipley Hills Road provides more relaxed parking. The churchyard presents a few challenges for the photographer being beset with trees which, in particular, compromise the favoured southern aspects view from the northwest and west being the best options from the limited set available.