England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Stone next Dartford St Mary the Virgin

The Parish

The parish of Stone next Dartford, hereafter simply Stone it is given the suffix to distinguish it from Stone in Oxney, lies in northwestern Kent forming a stretch of the county's coastline with the outer Thames Estuary. Stone is located about 2 miles east of the market town of Dartford and sits immediately south of the A206 road which parallels the Thames' shore from Dartford to Swanscombe, Stone sits amongst a plethora of main roads being only a little over a mile north of the A2 road (London to Canterbury) and a similar distance east of the M25 motorway (London's Orbital Motorway). The original village of Stone sat clustered around the church and mainly to its west, today most of the early village has been wiped away by modern housing developments, Pevsner identifies only 5 pre-20th century buildings remaining within the parish. At the time of this transcript there would have been a mixed economy with the estuary playing an important role as source of fish & shellfish and a transport for a number of Thames-side wharves, farming was also a mixture of arable on drier land and pastures on the marshland along the Thames estuary. All changed in the early 20th century with the establishment of a cement works and the extensive chalk quarries that almost engulfed the village, whilst the employment was welcomed the environment was destroyed. All today has been swept away by a multitude of modern developments, the railway line from London to Gravesend was the first to arrive, since that time Stone has acquired a freight dock, the A206 has been upgraded to fast dual-carriageway status, the modern M25 motorway and its impressive Queen Elizabeth II bridge across the estuary inserted, as a final flourish one of the former chalk quarries has become Bluewater Shopping Centre one of the largest retail gatherings in the land.As a coastal settlement Stone has numerous outfalls draining into the Thames Estuary and thence to the North Sea. Stone parish rises from sea level to around 40 metres, land continues rising inland reaching 70 metres above the sea within a couple of miles. Parishes in this area tend to be fairly large and Stone was not exceptional in covering 3,000 acres, it would have supported a population of close to 750 parishioners. In Domesday time Stone was one of those manor which just scraped into the top 20% of settlements by population, held by the Bishop of Rochester it offered 13 ploughs, meadows & woodland and also had a mill as a prosperous rural farming manor for that time.

The Church

St Mary's church sits south of the A206 accessed along Church Hill & then Church Road south and then east from the station. The church is a curious mix of heights and non-standard layout, a legacy of an interrupted building campaign which began in the 13th century. The chancel is the earliest part of the church along with the lofty 3-bay nave, the similarity of the work to that carried out in Westminster Abbey leads to speculation that the same building team may have been responsible. The work seems to date from the middle of the 13th century and is firmly in the Early English Gothic style. In the following century the church was extended westwards by a single bay and the tower was placed within its, although the early 14th century is normally in the Decorated style work here was clearly intended to match the existing style. The later stages of the 14th & into the 15th centuries saw small additions in Perpendicular styling, the vestry and a chantry chapel were added during this period. The chancel began life with a vaulted stone roof but this was removed in c1640. The final changes to the church came in the typical if very heavy restoration of 1860, Pevsner makes the comment that everything "above the arcading in the chancel" is the result of this restoration Church Road end at a broad parking and turning circle allowing a car or two to safely park, the church is found through an arched gap in the flint & brick walling. The church sits within an extensive churchyard which has few obstacles to concern the photographer.