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

The Parish

The parish of Ridley lies in northwestern Kent about 7 miles southwest of the port of Gravesend, Ridley sits just over 2 miles west of the A227 road which connects Gravesend through to Tonbridge. Ridley is a tiny place, with no defined village it is a mere scatter of farms and cottages high on the North Downs. The A227 road follows a high ridge across the Downs and Ridley sits on a western extension with views across a dry valley to its west. A small arable farming community at the time of this transcript little has changed in this quiet corner of the county. Ridley sits on porous chalk so there is little or no surface drainage, what water there is makes its way largely underground and northwards merging towards the River Darent which reaches the outer Thames Estuary at Dartford. Ridley is sited at around 150 metres above the sea but land continues to rise to the scarp crest of the North Downs reaching local heights of just over 230 metres before plunging into The Weald. Even in a county with many small parishes Ridley was one of the smallest, it covered just over 800 acres and would have barely supported 100 parishioners. In Domesday times Ridley was an equally small place, held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux it offered just 4 ploughs together with small meadows & woodland.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the western side of Ridley Hill at the point where it levels off from its climb out of the dry valley, Ridley Court Farm sits alongside as its only accompaniment. Despite the tiny size of the congregation St Peter has ancient origins, the nave being late 11th or early 12th century and Norman Romanesque in style. The chancel is also fairly old being from the 13th century. Both pieces were, however, extensively restored in the 19th century, the nave in 1834 and the chancel in the 1850s when both porches were rebuilt too. Ridley Hill is narrow and the church is screened as one approaches from the southwest, a delightful scene of angel and thatched seat greets as one arrives at the site, where there is careful parking as long as one avoids blocking entrance to the farm. Wooden gates grant entry to a compact churchyard, there are many trees at both eastern and western ends which do somewhat restrict the angles available for photography, the best views are from the roadside.