England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Milstead St Mary & the Holy Cross

The Parish

The parish of Milstead lies in northern central Kent roughly 3 miles south of the town of Sittingbourne. Milstead sits within a broad area devoid of significant numbered roads, the closest such road being at Sittingbourne where the A2 road runs through en route from London to Cantervury. Milstead is a small crossroads settlement built around a 4-way junction of lanes, most properties line the north-south running Frinsted Lane. Milstead sits within the heart of Kent's fruit growing area, a glance at today's Ordnance Survey map shows extensive orchards around the village where apples, pears & cherries are the specialist crops, hop grounds may have declined from earlier times but are also still present, early gazetteers highlight that almost 20% of the parish acres is in woodland which would have been coppiced and a source of charcoal. Modern developments have come to the area, the modern M2 motorway passes just north of the village but has no exit close by. Only minor field drains take water the short distance north to the Swale's estuary thence to that of the Thames and then the North Sea. Milstead is sited around 100 metres above the sea, it stands on the dip-slope of the chalk which rises to the much-diminished escarpment which crests at 193 metres. Milstead parish was typically sized for the area, but has an interesting shape with a curious peninsula of their acreage running northwards from the main body, it covered just over 1,200 acres and would have supported close to 200 parishioners. Milstead is not specifically mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Mary's church stands right adjacent to the main crossroads of the village on the western side of Frinsted Lane. The medieval portions of the church date from two differing eras but both were extensively modified in Victorian times. The chancel, together with its northern & southern chapels originate in the late 12th century in the Norman Romanesque style but these portions received the heaviest Victorian reinvention being almost completely rebuilt during the restoration of 1873. Whilst the nave, too, is undoubtedly of Norman origins it was almost completely rebuilt in the Perpendicular era when the chancel arch was also replaced and the short western tower also added/rebuilt. As already mentioned the Victorian work was especially severe in this case rendering much of the church a look of the 19th century rather than the medieval. Manor Road, opposite the church, offers the better on-street parking, the churchyard is relatively free from obstacles but the placement of the church, close to the road, makes views from Frinsted Lane some of the better ones.