England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Ospringe St Peter & St Paul

The Parish

The parish of Ospringe lies in northeastern Kent not too far from its northern coastline with the Swale Estuary. Ospringe is located roughly 3/4 of a mile southwest of the market & brewing town of Faversham and sits on the A2 road which links London with Canterbury. Early maps show Ospringe as a discrete village, separated from Faversham by fields and the site of gunpowder mills, a crossroads village gathered around the junction of the A2 with Water Lane, a further straggle of properties lining the latter lane to the church. Today Faversham has expanded such that Ospringe has become merely its southwestern suburb. Ospringe has early history, some believe it to have been the site of the Roman station of Durolevum, whilst the establishment of a major hospital, The Maison Dieu, made it a prominent way-station along the route to Canterbury from 1234 to its dissolution in 1516. Like most Kent parishes Ospringe made its living from farming, a mixture of arable and the traditional Kent crops of fruit and hops, the parish was also well-wooded with over 15% of the parish acreage in woodland management. The gunpowder mills also provided income to the area shared with its larger neighbour. Modern developments have come to the parish, the London to Canterbury railway line lies just north of the A2 whilst to Ospringe's south the modern M2 motorway passes through also headed for Canterbury. Oare Creek and its feeder streams drain the parish the short distance to the outer Swale Estuary headed ultimate into the North Sea. Ospringe is sited at around 15 metres above the sea sitting on Kent's northern coastal plain which gradually rises inland to reach 80 metres a few miles to the southwest. Ospringe parish was a large one in its county, covering almost 2,800 acres which would have supported a population of around 1,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Ospringe was equally a substantial settlement, large enough by population to be amongst the largest 20% recorded, held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux its assets were equally profitable, 14 ploughs were backed by the usual meadows and woodland with profitably also a mill, a fishery and a salthouse.

The Church

St Peter & St Paul's church sits almost as the southernmost building in Ospringe accessed from the A2 along Water Lane by between a quarter and a half mile. The church has its origins in the earliest of times, its northern doorway being 12th century and Norman Romanesque in style. Of a slightly later but similar age, if not reused, are the arcades to the nave being dated to c1200 and the early English Gothic period. There are many lancets of this style too but Pevsner believes all are re-sited, reused or even from the major restorations of the Victorian period. The final genuine medieval fabric belongs to the southern chapel an early 14th century addition in the Decorated style of that period. Much else in the church, including its stand-out feature the saddle-backed western tower date from almost a complete rebuild during Victorian times completed in 1858. That tower and its northern porch make the church slightly unique and a genuine curiosity. The church sits at the point where Water Lane kinks left allowing a large triangular area for parking as the access route starts to the lychgate. The churchyard itself is open and uncluttered with no obstacles for the photographer.