England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Preston next Wingham St Mildred

The Parish

The parish of Preston, there being 2 of that name in the county it is necessary to distinguish this from the other near Faversham, lies in northeastern Kent roughly 5 miles northwest of the small port of Sandwich. Preston is a long strip of a village which lies along the eastern flanks of the Little Stour's valley, it sits in a broad area with no significant numbered roads, the closes being the A257, some 2 1/5 miles to Preston's south, which connects Sandwich with Canterbury. The properties in Preston area largely strung along a lane which winds northwards from Wingham to cross the Little Stour near to the Grove Ferry Nature Reserve. Preston is largely a farming community, here the arable & pastoral activities are supplemented by Kent's signature orchards which surround the village. The Little Stour drains the parish northeastwards soon joining its larger neighbour the Great Stour and reaching the North Sea through Sandwich. Preston is sited at around 10 metres above the sea with some properties as low as a mere 3 metres, land rises slowly to the south reaching just over 30 metres at the A257. Preston was fairly typically sized for eastern Kent, covering just under 1,500 acres it would have supported a population of around 500 parishioners. In Domesday times Preston was held by Canterbury Abbey and was a well-to-do place offering 13 ploughs.

The Church

St Mildred's church sits away from the village by almost a half mile west, a pretty collection of church 19th century villa (Preston Court) and oast house sit close by the banks of the Little Stour. The church dates from the Early English Gothic period fashionable in the early part of the 13th century. The thin lancet windows of the western tower are indicative of that style which is used not only in the tower but also the nave, its arcades, and also the chancel. Some work spread into the later Decorated style, the aisles were presumably added at that time and also the northern chapel. There matters rested until the usual Victorian restoration which not only refreshed the building but also added the rather jaunty pyramidal cap to the tower, this work was conducted in the late 1850s. Court Lane wanders westwards from the lane leading to Wingham, at its dead-end one finds the church with just about enough room for a single car outside its entrance. a wooden gate leads to a diagonal path across the churchyard to the church. The churchyard is adequately spacious and with no significant obstacle to photography,