England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Sandwich St Clement

The Parish

The town of Sandwich, divided into 3 parishes St Clement, St Mary & St Peter, is located roughly 13 miles east of the city of Canterbury and a similar distance north of Dover  and sits on Kent's eastern coastline. Sandwich once sat on the route of the A256 road, nowadays forming a bypass west of the town, which links Dover with Ramsgate & Margate. Sandwich is an ancient settlement, a former major port and a market town for this stretch of eastern Kent. Sandwich owes its origins to its port which made it a major base for Roman occupation, the port led to immense growth such that by the 11th century Sandwich was one of the largest towns in the land. Created as one of the Cinque Ports, a guild for trade with the continent, Sandwich was granted its market by King Henry III and by the late medieval period remained one of the land's largest towns. Sandwich declined from the 14th century onwards due to silting of its harbour, that decline is reflected in its buildings with new building rare after c1500. A brief return to prosperity followed the settlement of refugee Protestant weavers following their eviction from Flanders but once more the town settled into dignified decay. Modern day attempts to diversify the economy, the former pharmaceutical works on the town's edge, have failed to spark a revival and today's Sandwich remains merely a mid-sized market town but with much tourism to view its retained medieval buildings. Modern developments have come to the town, a railway line from the London to Ramsgate line branches south through Sandwich to Dover. The vast single banks to the east of the town, once protection for the harbour but also its nemesis, now hold major golf courses and were once home to the hovercraft service across the channel from Pegwell Bay. Sandwich is drained to the nearby North Sea by the convoluted course of the River Stour which forms a tight meander on the northern edges of the town to reverse its southward course and head back north and east to the sea. Sandwich is sited entirelt below the 10 metre contour with some portions barely above sea level, land rises only gently westwards reaching almost 50 metres southwest of nearby Eastry. Of Sandwich's 3 parishes St Clement is the most southerly and includes not only that portion of the town but also a rural hinterland, it remains, however, a very small acreage, St Clement's parish would have supported a population of around 900 parishioners. Whilst Sandwich is mentioned in Domesday Book as a holding of the Archbishop of Canterbury its assets are not listed despite it being reckoned to be one of the largest 20 towns in the land.

The Church

St Clement's church sits in eastern Sandwich on the western side of Knightrider Street and east of the former route of the A256 through the town. Like its town St Clement has early origins with the cruciform style favoured by the Normans indicative of a 12th century origin. It is likely that a cruciform pre-Conquest church existed before the enlargement in the 12th century as parts of the western quoins of the nave and masonry remaining at the northeastern corner both covey signs of Saxon work. Whilst an 11th century date is credible the 12th century enlargement in fashionable Caen stone hides the majority of the previous incarnation. The richly decorated central crossing tower of the 12th century is the major attraction of the church, inside its four high and wide arches are enriched with carved scallops and foliage. A date of c1160 is given by Pevsner for this work based upon its similarity with similar work at Christ Church, Canterbury. Slightly later, 13th century and Early English Gothic in style, comes the chancel and both northern & southern aisles which undoubtedly replaced what were 12th century transepts. The 2-bay northern chapel also arrived during the same century whilst its southern counterpart is early 14th century and Decorated in style. The nave was rebuilt in the early 15th century and completed with Perpendicular styled arcades and a clerestory. As is usual Victorian work can be found with a restoration of 1865 - 1870 mainly focusing on replacing the windows but also rebuilt the eastern wall of the chancel, giving modern lancet windows to match the previous Early English Gothic ones. This is undoubtedly a church to visit after first using one of the town's many car parks, street parking is scarce and generally limited to an hour. The most attractive approach is by the narrow lane from Church Street, lined by medieval buildings, which opens out an impressive view from tall metal gates, a few trees create something of a challenge for the photographer and do limit the angles available somewhat.