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

The Parish

The parish of Nackington lies in eastern Kent roughly 2 miles south of the city of Canterbury. Nackington sits immediately east of the B2068 road which links Canterbury with Hythe and which follows the ancient Roman Road of Stane Street for much of its course. Nackington is a tiny place with no real village, there is a concentration of farms and cottages near the parish church but otherwise the population is spread across the wider parish in similar farms and cottages. Like many Kent parishes in this area Nackington was a farming parish and dominated by arable farming, early gazetteers estimating around 75% of the small acreage as being arable, today there a re a number of orchards dotted around with fruit such as apples & pears as well as plums & cherries grown. Modern developments have come to the parish, the A2 road from London to Dover which used to pass through Canterbury now bypasses to the west and south cutting through Nackington parish as a modern dual-carriageway highway, a branch railway line linking Canterbury with Barham is now closed leaving merely bridges and cuttings to mark its passage. Nackington sits upon a low hilltop of porous chalk with little surface drainage, most water makes its way sub-surface to the Nail Bourne headed northeastwards to reach the Great Stour at Plucks Gutter before the latter passes through the port of Sandwich to the North Sea. Nackington is sited at around 80 metres above the sea with gently undulating terrain rising just to its west to a spot height of 109 metres in nearby Iffin Wood. Nackington parish was a small parish of just 887 acres which would have supported close to 100 parishioners. Whilst Nackington does have a Domesday entry it is one for the region rather than the specific manor.

The Church

St Mary's church sits amongst farms and cottages accessed by the dead-end lane of Church Lane which runs east from the B2068. Like many small rural churches St Mary has fabric dating back to the earliest times, the nave dates to the 12th century Norman Romanesque period and is authenticated by 2 northern and a southern window characteristic of the period. Whilst the nave is 12th century both the skinny western tower and the chancel are 13th century in origin during the Early English Gothic period, the chancel is augmented with a southern chapel presumably of similar vintage. Unusually the tower is not made the same full width as the nave to which it is attached leaving a western wall to the nave showing a lancet styled window too. The tower also comes complete with a brick top with battlementation. this has been tentatively dated to the first decade of the 19th century. Also 19th century is the whole eastern wall of the church presumably rebuilt as part of a typical Victorian restoration. A road sign point to the start of Church Lane referencing the farms and church, just before the church is reached there is a large parking area allowing a relaxed visit. The churchyard has a few trees which impact the southern aspects in particular but all other angles are available for the photographer.