The Churchyard

Post date: Mar 11, 2012 11:37:44 AM

Extract from the Parish Magazine of September 1913:

With the consent of the Churchwardens, Mr. Brocklebank has replaced the ugly wooden door leading from Wateringbury Place into the churchyard near the north-west corner by a handsome old wrought iron gate. This gate is not for public use, but for the use of the family only, and will be kept locked.

This matter has drawn attention to the question of the ownership of the various walls which form the boundaries of the churchyard, and has brought to light some traditional information which ought to be recorded in order to ensure its preservation. With regard to the south wall, adjoining the high road, I presume there is no doubt that it is the property of the parishioners, and that the churchwardens are responsible for its upkeep. There is no record of the date of its erection. A portion of it is shown in a sketch-plan of the south-western part of the churchyard which was drawn in 1853 on the fly-leaf of the Vestry Minute Book, but the sexton, Henry Hook, informs me that George Twort, who died in 1895, at the age of 70, remembered the time when the boundary ran further north, leaving a triangular bit of ground between it and the high road, and the wall of the Wateringbury Place grounds which now forms the western boundary. Twort also remembered the Manor Pound, which occupied a strip of that triangular space, running along the said Place wall. The triangular bit of ground is shown in a map of Wateringbury Parish made in 1828 by T. Brown, Surveyor, Maidstone, which clearly defines the original boundary between it and the churchyard, but shows no sign of the pound, or any fencing between the triangular space and the road. The absence of any indication of the pound in that map is puzzling, for if (as is certain) the pound existed there in 1853 it is likely that it occupied the same site in 1828, and indeed for centuries previously: we may conclude, therefore, that in 1828 it was merely fenced round: and this view is confirmed by the fact that a boundary stone, marking the boundary between the churchyard and the pound (at the north end of the latter), still exists in the churchyard. The puzzle is increased by the fact that the pound is shown in the 1853 plan as surrounded by a wall, the wall being specifically mentioned in a letter appended to the plan; but on the face of the Place wall, at the where such wall would have abutted upon it, there is no sign of any junction. I have recently removed the ivy and examined the face of the wall at that point. The plan gives the exact measurement of the pound : it ran, from the south-west corner of the present churchyard, 71 1/2 feet along the wall, which separated it from "S. L. L. Lucas Esqre's garden"; and its width at the top end was 17 1/2 feet. A letter attached to the plan, written by Knowles King, Sana Lucas' solicitor, to Mr. J. B. Jude, churchwarden, and copied into the Vestry Book runs as follows :—" You may remove the wall of the Manor Pound and take the ground into the Churchyard at Wateringbury."

Certain conclusions, confirmed to some extent by the dates on the grave-stones, may legitimately be drawn from the above facts and considerations: that in 1853, when the enlargement of the church by the addition of the south aisle was under consideration, the churchwardens were also considering the addition of the triangular bit of land to the churchyard; that they applied to Mr. Sam Lucas for permission to include the pound; and that on permission being obtained they removed the fencing (called by Knowles King the wall) of the pound and also the old churchyard boundary (probably a fence likewise), and built the existing churchyard wall. That wall is all of one date, and this is significant, for if the pound had been previously surrounded by a wall there would seem to be no reason why its southern portion, along the roadside, should have been demolished and re-built. In fact, taking it for granted that there was no pound wall in 1828, I cannot imagine either Alderman Lucas or his grandson Sam building one at a time when pounds were going out of use. (In olden times every manor had its pound or enclosure for the detention of stray or trespassing cattle or cattle taken in distraint. This particular pound belonged to the manor of Wateringbury. There must have been pounds belonging to the manors of Westbury and Chart. Can anyone tell me where either was situated ?)

Another conclusion to be drawn is that the wall along the west side of the churchyard is the property, not of the churchwardens, but of the owner of Wateringbury Place, at least as far as the pound extended, and I think further on also, for the construction proves that in its lower part it was all of one building; and I fancy too that it originally ran straight on beyond the limits of the churchyard, separating the garden of the Place from the farmland that lay to the north of the churchyard. It was originally a low wall, which at some time was heightened by two feet. It makes a slight bend at the point where the pound ended and the churchyard began. A line drawn from that point to a point 12 feet north of the south-east corner would mark the old southern boundary of the churchyard. The boundary stone above-mentioned stands on that line about 14 or 15 feet distant from the wall.

With regard to the low retaining wall that forms the eastern boundary of the churchyard, the first 12 feet of it, from the southern end, are clearly of the same construction and date (c. 1853) as the southern wall. At the 12-foot point it joins a wall which is manifestly of earlier date and contains means of entry, seen on the outer face, into the vault of the Crow family made in 1807. The comparatively low level of the ground outside suggests that this early wall replaced either one of somewhat similar kind or a bank and hedge. The 1828 map indicates that the wall then ran on to the west of the farm buildings (now destroyed) which stood some distance from the north-eastern corner of the churchyard.

With regard to the brick wall that forms the northern boundary, there is a tradition which says it was built by Alderman Lucas in place of a fence that was a little way further north and included in the churchyard the yew-trees that now stand in the grounds of Wateringbury Place. On what authority a little space of consecrated ground was thus abstracted it is impossible to imagine, and there seems to be no record of the transaction. It may be assumed that it was done with the consent of the churchwardens, but upon whom lies the liability of repairing the wall it is not for me to opine. At present it is in good condition.

G. M. L.