England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
St Mary in the Marsh St Mary

The Parish

The parish of St Mary in the Marsh lies in the extreme south of Kent within Romney Marsh to which the suffix refers. roughly 8 miles southeast of the coastal town of Hythe, the parish forms a short stretch of Kent's English Channel coastline and lies not too far from neighbouring Sussex. St Mary in the Marsh sits about 2 miles west of the coastal A259 road which links Hythe with New Romney. St Mary in the Marsh is a tiny place, little more than a hamlet with most properties lying around a staggered crossroads of lanes close to the church and inn, the wider parish is extensive grazing marsh dotted with isolated farmsteads. The larger settlement of St Mary's Bay which fronts the coastline is a modern development. Much of the landscape hereabouts lies close to sea level and is largely reclaimed land used for pastoral grazing largely of cattle, the landscape is characteristically divided by man-made drains, locally known as sewers. Modern developments have come to the parish, albeit in miniature, the Romney Hythe & Dymchurch narrow gauge railway, once commercial is nowadays a heritage line. The main destination of most water is the New Sewer which exits to the English Channel immediately south of St Mary's Bay through sluices. St Mary in the Marsh stands at just 2 metres above the sea, a height little bettered for over 5 miles until rising into low hills around Bonnington. St Mary in the Marsh parish was fairly typically sized for its area covering around 1,800 acres and supporting close to 150 parishioners. St Mary in the Marsh is not mentioned in Domesday Book.

The Church

St Mary's church stands opposite to the Star Inn at the staggered crossroads around which only a few properties gather. Like many isolated and rural churches St Mary preserves fabric from the earliest times of stone-built churches. The western tower's stone stages are 12th century Norman Romanesque, the topping of a shingled broach spire is probably 15th century, archaeologists dating the wood through dendrochronology to c1476. The remainder of the church dates from either the late Early English Gothic period or possibly from the short Transitional period between that style and pure Decorated, all is of the last quarter of the 13th century. Lancet styled windows bedeck the wide chancel whilst the east window is of a Geometrical design. Whilst the southern aisle is retained from the 13th century, its northern equivalent was rebuilt in the 15th century. Only a "tactful restoration", Pevsner words, of 1910 has effected change on this time-capsule of a marsh church. Surrounding the church lie miles of grazing marsh, trees are rare around here but a few dot the churchyard easily avoided, the roads are quiet and safe for on-road parking otherwise try the inn for parking. Wooden post and rail fencing is broken by a wooden gate at the junction of the lanes, the churchyard has few obstacles for the photographer.