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All Saints Parish Church, Ulcombe
St. James the Great, Ewhurst, Sussex
St. John the Baptist Church, Seddlescombe
St. Martin's Parish Church Aldington, is to be found on a hill nearby the village of Aldington. It has some eleventh century stonework, though it was much enlarged in the fourteenth & fifteenth centuries under the patronage of the Archbishops of Cantebury who had the manor of Aldington. The tower dates from the sixteenth century.
Richard Verrier BIRCH (Born 1st February 1853 at Gimminge Brook (Gimmings Brook, now Gibbons Brook), Stanford, ch. 1 May 1853, his middle name is recorded in the Bishops Transcript for Stanford as Valyer, however this is a misspelling, since his paternal great grandmother was Mary VERRIER. He died. 8th December 1935 and was buried at St. Mary's Churchyard Sellindge ) Married i Sarah Ann SWAIN (born 1852, died 19th December 1896) from Elham, Kent. Then married on 25 October 1899 at St. Martin's Parish Church Aldington, Kent. ii Rachel HOAD (born 1863, died 28th January 1922, buried 3 February 1922 in St. Mary's Churchyard Sellindge) Rachel's parents were Henry HOAD (born abt. 1815, died 1873), shipwright, & (ii) Sarah Elizabeth TOLHURST (First maried to ? IFIELD)
St. Peter & St. Paul Parish Church of Charing is to be found at the heart of the village of Charing,, on the main Ashford to Maidstone road the A20. A large church situated next to the remains of the Archbishop's Palace, just off the High Street.
The west tower of the church is over 600 years old, though the rest of the church was rebuilt in the 16th Century, after a disastrous fire.
Charing is a medieval village at it's core, which is settled in the wishbone formed by the meeting of the A20 Ashford ~ Maidstone & A252 Charing ~ Cantebury roads.
There was once a palace belonging to the Archbishop of Cantebury, close to the church. However after the Dissolution of R.C. churches under Henry Vlll, it fell into disuse and ruin and now forms part of farm buildings.
St. Mary, Parish Church of Lenham, was originally a Saxon / Norman building, but was extensively damaged in a malicious fire in 1297. Although the culprits were never found they were excommunicated by Archbishop Winchelsea, in February 1298.
The oldest remanant is in the chapel of St. Edmund, where there is an original Norman east wall, with an upper window. The rest of the church is largely the work of 14th Century masons.
The medieval Altar Slab, survived the reformation,by being lowered into the floor and was restored in the early 20th Century.
Set into the North wall is a curiously angled figure of a priest in mass vestments, thought to be Thomas de Apuldefelde, who lived in the reign of Edward III (1327-1377).
The pulpit dates from the reign of Elizabeth I, and is considered to be a very fine example.
On the south wall, there is a mural showing St. Michael weighing souls, dating from the 14th Century.
The font is 15th Century and is on a curvilinear carved pedestal.
The 14th Century Tower houses a ring of 8 bells.
Medieval Village of Lenham the market square in the central area has many original features. The photo shows the corner of the Red Lion a 14th century pub and facing a tudor building with shops built within.
Lenham is to be found halfway between Ashford and Maidstone just off the A20.
All Saints Parish Church, Ulcombe The church is to be found at the top of a hill overlooking the village below.
Legend has it that William the Conqueror ordered the erection of the original Norman church. The building is constructed of Kentish ragstone and is far larger than expected for a small village, explained by the fact that a College of priests was established at Ulcombe by Archbishop Stephen Langton between 1213 and 1215, on the request of Ralph St. Leger. The last archpriest recorded at Ulcombe was Thomas Wells in 1512.
Extensive alterations were made to the interior of the church between 1956 ~ 1963 and there have also been recent renovations.
The church houses a 13th Century screen and five misericords with carvings on the undersides, traditionally linked to the 5 priests of the College. Brasses are set into the floor commemerating Rudolph St. Leger and his wife dated 1470, a second believed to be of John St. Leger who died in 1442 and the last is of William Maydeston, Knight and is dated 1419.
The tower offers a panoramic view of the Weald of Kent and was built in the 14th Century. The bells are still regularly rung, four of which were cast in the Hatch Bell Foundry of Broomfield, where some of Cantebury Catherdral bells were cast.
Oast House in Ulcombe, Kent The village is not easy to get to being reached by a network of B roads, which lie between the A20 and the A274.
