Cuxton Rectory - a history:

Cuxton Rectory, pictured in 1968 not long after completion

The current Cuxton Rectory (pictured above) is a pleasant modern-looking brick-built house dating back to 1966. For better or worse, it replaced the truly elegant late Georgian-style Rectory building that was built in 1833 by the then Rector of Cuxton, Robert William Shaw.

Cuxton Rectory, c.1919...

Built from locally-sourced yellow Kentish bricks and having a slate roof, it was designed by architect Mr. Whitehead of Maidstone and built by a Mr. Tarsell. Construction work commenced on 8 May 1832 and was completed on 17 April the following year at a total cost of £1178-14s (a project that would cost about £1.9 million today, on a commodity income value basis).

Canon Robert W. Shaw, c. 1866

Born at Yalding in October 1804, Robert Shaw was one of the ten children of Sir John Gregory Shaw, the fifth Baronet Shaw of Eltham and his wife, Theodosia. He was educated at Eton College and subsequently graduated from Christ Church, Oxford University, with a Master of Arts (M.A.). He married Sophia Cornwall on 18 February 1830 and was invested at St. Michaels and All Angels in 1831. 

The Reverend Shaw was clearly from a wealthy, well-connected background and he soon put those advantages into practical use. Nevertheless, over half of the money for the rectory had to be borrowed, which it was under the terms of the Relief Of The Poor Act (Gilbert’s Act) of 1782. 

Whilst giving government money to rich people seems a very 2021 thing to do, the Gilbert Act was intended to bring the gentry into closer involvement in poor relief administration. Canon Shaw did indeed do much to improve the lot of the local population (such as building Cuxton’s first school in 1849) in exchange for the loan that helped to fund his splendid new rectory.

South Eastern Gazette, 20 March 1832

Canon Shaw chose the site for his new rectory with good judgement. It was both nearer to the church and well above the damp valley where the original Parsonage was located (in a spot that is now occupied by the existing Scout Hall). 

His chosen site was owned by Lord Darnley, but Shaw agreed a land swop arrangement with him, exchanging some glebe land for the altogether much more agreeable location where the new rectory was to be built.

The Parsonage appears to have been a rather horrible place to live. The short six-month tenure of William Laud as Rector of St. Michael's in 1610 was largely down to him contracting the "Kentish Ague", a form of malaria very much present in the poorly drained surroundings of the time. (Happily for him, William Laud recovered from his bout of 'ague' well enough to go on to become Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, a post he held until 1645, when he was executed on trumped-up charges of treason - a tale for elsewhere!)

Cuxton Rectory, 1868, watercolour by Emily
Clare Harvey (Canon Shaw's daughter-in-law)

Indeed, many of Cuxton's rectors chose to live elsewhere: Caleb Parfect, Rector from 1719 until his death in 1770, was to call the parsonage "aguish" and lamented that he struggled to find tenants that he could let the building out to as a result. The Rev. Parfect himself chose to live at his other benefice in Shorne in the summer, and at his house on Rochester during the winter.

 As Charles Moore wrote in answer to a questionnaire sent to him by the Bishop of Rochester in 1780:

“…I have expended some hundred pounds and made a considerable part of the walls brick which before were only thin lath and plaster, yet from the great indifference of the house itself and its very low, damp situation (being the very lowest spot in the whole parish, it can never be made comfortable or healthy residence at certain times of the year…”

Then as now, it seems that a nice house such as the rectory will always attract the attention of ne'er-do-wells and indeed, early in the morning of 6th December 1849, a 19-year old by the name of Thomas Godden from Strood broke into the rectory and stole a variety of small trinkets. He was soon apprehended by Robert Sampson, the local constable, and the stolen goods recovered. Godden was sent for trial and in March 1850 was sentenced to seven years' transportation.

It was during Shaw's tenure that the Rectory and its grounds became a centre for social events, initially to raise funds for the Rector's ambitious plans for the rebuilding of the church (which were to come to fruition in 1866). These events were, however, initially very much for "the elite", which is how the attendees of a "GRAND FANCY BAZAAR for the sale of LADIES' WORK" (which was held in the Rectory grounds on the 15th and 16th of June 1853 and which was to raise £150) were described in one local newspaper report at the time.

In 1858, Canon Shaw spent another £600 on the Rectory, enlarging the drawing room and adding a kitchen and over-room extension, as well as enlarging the stables and the coach house. The stable block was situated alongside the old Parsonage in Bush Road. The Rectory had an extensive garden and in 1875, the Rectory stable was converted into a gardener’s house at a cost of £162-11s-2d.

Canon Colson, c,1900...

Canon Shaw’s successor, Canon Colson, was also a keen gardener, fencing off the Rectory Garden in 1875 when he took office and building a heated greenhouse alongside Rectory Cottage at a cost of £140.  In 1876 he founded the Cottage Gardener’s Society, being of the opinion that:

“Few things add more to the temporal comforts and well being of a labouring man’s family than his taking pride in his garden. It may help lead him to better things – certainly keep him from worse…”

If only the robber barons who build our modern houses thought like Canon Colson.

The first cottage garden show was held in that year and the subsequent shows, held in the Rectory grounds, became an established fixture in Cuxton’s social calendar with Canon Colson’s hothouse plants (arranged by his gardener, Mr. Wilson) being a centre of attraction for many years. 

Unlike Canon Shaw's events, these were much more egalitarian affairs, with a large and enthusiastic attendance from the villagers of Cuxton. A report in the Tonbridge Wells Standard from 29 August 1884 depicts a lively afternoon, with large displays of fruit, vegetable and flowers, prizes for the best of them as judged by Lord Darnley's gardener, with the Lord and Lady Darnley themselves gracing the occasion with their attendance and all to musical accompaniment by a band from the Royal Engineers.  

The Cottage Garden Society, c. 1900.

A map from 1867 shows the extensive garden of the Rectory and the associated glebe land that stretched from the churchyard down to Bush Road. The map shows the area laid out as a park, with groups of trees and with Arrow Cottage, another cottage (now 35 Bush Road) and Rectory Cottage and stables forming the northern boundary along to the corner opposite the White Hart. 

Behind Rectory Cottage was a small pond, to the west of which was the main vegetable garden and an orchard.  Around the rectory were formal gardens and trees. There was even, right up until the 1930s,  a tennis court, located at the top of May Street. Canon Colson himself was an enthusiastic tennis player in his younger days, perhaps overly so: a report in the Maidstone Journal and Kentish Advertiser from 30 August 1880 tells us that he "broke the small bone in one of his legs" while playing.   

OS Map of 1869, showing the Rectory and the glebe land...

Canon Toone, Canon Colson’s successor, continued in the tradition of gardening Canons. He employed Jack and Charles Cogger as gardeners, helped by Walter (Wick) and Jim Cogger. The Cogger family had a long association with the church dating back to William, who was the church clerk in 1850, and continued to maintain that involvement until quite recently (when Colin Cogger finally retired as a church bell ringer in 2022).

Canon Toone also used the rectory as a social centre for the village, particularly during and after WW1.

Convalescent soldiers from Cobham Hall military hospital attending a party at the Rectory. They were presented with gifts of cigarettes
and sweets by the two young girls, Lily Peters (left, to become Lilian Bennett, landlady of the White Hart until 1969 and wife of
landlord Bill) and Enid Symons (daughter of the manager of the Clinkham cement works, latterly Rugby Portland at Halling). 

As was the case with so many of Cuxton’s historic buildings, neglect and the passage of time sadly took its toll on the Rectory.  In 1935 some glebe land and Rectory Cottage was sold to Mr. George Cogger (which was to become Cogger's farm shop) to fund modernisation of the rectory. 

The Cogger family, tree-felling in the Rectory Garden, 1958. Looking on is Mrs. Rae, wife of Rector Charles Rae...

The Rectory gardens and remaining glebe land were still used regularly by the village as a community asset. As recently as the early sixties, the Scouts used to hold their annual jamboree - 'Scoutana' - on the Bush Road glebe land next to the scout hall (where the Glebe mini-estate is now) and the Rectory grounds and basement were used by the local youth club.

By 1961, when the Reverend Richard Allington Smith came to Cuxton, the building was in a sorry state, its roof timbers riddled with rot and according to the Reverend himself, draughty and difficult to heat. 

In January 1964, the Reverend Smith decided to sell off Rectory Meadow - no more Scoutana events there - to fund church repairs and to "prevent his own salary being a drain on parish resources". 

'Scoutana', 1961 - the White Hart is in the background...

It was around then that plans for a new rectory also began to emerge. It would doubtless have cost a lot of money to repair the rectory and it seemed the good rector didn't favour that option. Sure enough, a survey from the diocese confirmed that view. Only a cynic would suggest that the demolition of the rectory was driven by the likelihood of it (along with many old buildings in Cuxton that also happened to get demolished at the time) being given listed building status (as were both St, John's and St. Michaels churches in 1966), which would have prevented such an act of vandalism.

There was some suggestion from the diocese that the old Rectory be sold, the garden sub-divided and a new rectory built there, a plan which may have saved the building. The incumbent rector was having none of that.

"I made a counter-suggestion that the present house be demolished, a new rectory built nearby and the entire garden retained in its present state as a venue for fetes and similar functions and as a site for possible parish buildings," wrote the Rev. Allington-Smith in the March 1965 edition of the church magazine, claiming that his new rectory would be "a work of architectural equal, if not superior, to the old..."

The Rectory, 1964, just two years prior to demolition...

I feel that not many people would agree with that sentiment. The new rectory was built just to the north next to the old one and was completed in September 1966. In October 1966, the last meeting of the "Cellar Club" (the youth club that ran its regular activities in the rectory basement) was held and the Rev. Allington-Smith moved into his nice new rectory in November 1966, with the building being blessed on the 23rd.

Despite opposition from the Parish Council, the old rectory was demolished on November 14th 1966, leaving the smaller and undoubtedly more practical but far less elegant structure we see today. 

The Rev. Allington-Smith did not get to enjoy the new rectory for very long: he was appointed to St. Margaret's at Rainham in July 1967 and was replaced by the Rev. Ernest E. Turner in September 1967 (who was formally inducted in December that year).

Canon Shaw’s Rectory, possibly above all other buildings that have been lost from Cuxton, could and should have been saved. It seems staggeringly short-sighted to have allowed its destruction, even by 1960’s standards.

And now it seems that the history of the rectory may be coming to a close. In November 2024 Roger Knight, the Rector of St. Michaels since 1987, was compelled to retire at the age of 70 under arcane church regulations. The diocese seem in no hurry to replace him and instead have decided to sell off the rectory instead. 

Cuxton rectory, September 2025

Efforts have been made to try and find the plans of the Rectory to see if Rev. Allington-Smith's desire to keep the rectory grounds "as a venue for fetes and similar functions and as a site for possible parish buildings" actually made it into a covenant.  Alas, although listed in the Medway Archive planning registers, the plans themselves are no held there and their whereabouts are not known. I suppose the diocese office may have a set. A Land Registry search might also identify any covenants that may restrict future use of the land.

In a way, I suppose there is a certain logic to the sell-off of the Rectory.. 

The parishes of Halling and Cuxton were merged in 1976 and having a large rectory located at the northern end of the parish seems an anachronism now. The Bishop has apparently made the decision because "the property is considered unsuitable and needs to be replaced." And there is nothing the local Parochial Church Council (PCC) can do about it...

"Unsuitable" for what, one wonders? And "needs to be replaced"? What with? Another housing estate like the nearby Glebe?

The diocese are allegedly "in touch with the estate agents to begin the work of identifying a new property within the benefice which would then be designated as the parsonage for your benefice..."

Personally, I have little faith in such promises. The C of E seem to have embarked upon a programme of destroying grass-roots Christianity in rural England so quietly and effectively that I sometimes think that the devil himself couldn't be doing a better job of it. That may seem an emotive statement, but just take a look at the Save The Parish web-page to see the determined and sly machinations of the church hierarchy when it comes to shutting down local parish churches,

About 3,500 churches in the UK have closed since 2013, while more than 900 places of worship are on Historic England’s “heritage at risk” register. I fear for our little church of St. Michaels, especially since the advent of the church hierarchy's plan to strip all decision-making powers away from local PCCs (GS2222) in its bid to accelerate the closure of all those pesky unfashionable little village churches that have supported them for the past 500 years. The C of E is not a business and churches surely do not have to make a profit. These closures seem morally wrong.

St. Michaels and All Angels - the future..?

The church is not short of money. The Church of England's endowment fund alone generated a 10.3% return of a staggering £1.1 billion in 2024, while the total value of the fund grew to £11.1 billion. The income for the Church of England is much larger, encompassing parish income, investments and other contributions.  Sure, the church want to divert resources to churches in poorer or deprived areas and that's just fine. Cuxton wouldn't be classed as 'poor' or 'deprived'.

But the C of E are far from impoverished. They could easily support its loyal little churches like Cuxton as well as doing all of its trendy evangelical-seeming stuff. One hopes that the ecclesiastical powers-that-be will try and reinvigorate the parish with a new appointment in a bid to increase congregation sizes and local community involvement in our two churches, instead of running or shutting either of them down. 

The Rochester diocese have given very little time for the PCCs of Cuxton and Halling to respond. In a letter dated 23rd September (but not received and issued by the PCC until much later than that) the Bishop states that "notice of any objection should be sent to the Secretary to the Diocesan Parsonages Board at the Diocesan Office, St. Nicholas Church, Boley, Rochester ME1 by Friday 2 October 2025.)"

The Secretary's e-mail address is Matthew.Girt@rochester.anglican.org 

My own personal views are as follow: 

- I don't want to see the Rectory put up for sale until a new Rector for the benefice has been identified. This would give the community confidence that the diocese weren't just planning to 'cut and run', either by closing one or both of our community churches, or by merging our parish with another.

- despite being deprived of a diocesan priest since the enforced retirement of the last Rector, the hard-working and dedicated PCCs of both Halling and Cuxton have nevertheless managed to ensure that the existing programme of services and Holy Communion have been maintained for the benefit of their parishioners. This demonstrates the strength of commitment of the local community to its local churches. 

-  the churches of St. Johns at Halling and St. Michaels at Cuxton are still greatly loved by their local communities, even if this is perhaps not always reflected in service attendance. Local PCC-organised events, group activities and concerts are always well supported at both churches. The appointment of a new and suitable Rector would undoubtedly serve to reinvigorate the combined parish of Cuxton and Halling, to the great benefit of both the local community and the diocese. 

I wouldn't call myself particularly religious, but the Sunday services (particularly at Cuxton, with church bells quite often rang before the service and a talented church choir singing hymns to the accompaniment of a magnificent Victorian church organ - played by an equally talented organist) really are a thing of both tradition and beauty. It feels that we are in danger of losing all that.

Without our beautiful and historic little churches of St. Michaels and St. Johns to remind us of our past, Cuxton and Halling will become just another couple of dull, soulless North Kent conurbations. 

References:

1)  Cuxton: A Kentish Village by Derek Church (published by Arthur J Cassell Ltd, 1976, ISBN 0 903253 12 7), Chapter 4, pp35-38, Chapter 6, pp59-60.

2) Church magazines and vestry/PCC records, Medway Archives Centre.

3) "FindMyPast" online newspaper archives.

4)  Emily Clare Harvey's scrapbook, from which I took both the watercolour of the Rectory and the photo-collage depicting Rector Robert William Shaw, was bought by an American foundation in 1998. Fortunately, it is one seemingly possessing a very enlightened and generous nature. They have placed the whole thing on the internet in "the public domain" (i.e. free of copyright) for everyone to enjoy, along with some informative notes. The link is here.

"Wanderings To Cantian Churches..."

St Michaels and All Angels, 2022...

Picking through some old newspapers online in Cuxton library, I came across an article in the Maidstone Journal, Rochester and Chatham Journal and Kentish Advertiser, from October 26th 1852. It relates to a journey made by two of its correspondents from London to Cuxton, to view St Michaels and All Angels church.

It provides a snapshot of Cuxton and Cuxton Church, about 15 years before the latter underwent a major renovation under the direction of the energetic Revered Robert William Shaw, who was Rector of St. Michaels from 1831 to 1874. The church nave itself was extended and many of the church artefacts moved or removed, all for better or worse.  

Watercolour of the south side of St. Michaels c.1850, prior to the 1867 extension of the nave and the 1936 addition of the vestry.

North side of St. Michaels, c.1801. The lowering of the porch and the cutting to it was made in the 1867 renovation. There used to be
steps down into the aisle.

I thought the article (or at least, most of it) is worth recounting here. I have provided explanatory or additional notes where I think they may be of use. 

“Wanderings To Cantian⁽¹⁾ Churches” 

BY A SCUIT, (Anglice,) A VAGABOND – (“Picts and Scots”.) 

CUXTON: 

“Wandering through the woods of the Priory of Lesnes (2) the other day, after vainly attempting to discover the long lost effigy alluded to by Dr. Stukeley (3) many a year ago, we resolved to visit Cuxton, where was situated one of the few manors erst the property of the poor abbot and chapter of Lesnes.”

Incontinently we hied to the British Museum to look into Hasted’s History of the County of Kent, after Cuxton, to ascertain the name of the manor (4). Without any difficulty we found Hasted, and Ireland’s piracy of Hasted, but not so easily in it the history of the parish of “Cuxton”; twice we searched the index under “Cu”, then we tried “Ku”, and two or three other variations of the appellation. As a matter of course, in the end, we gained the reward of merit deserved by our industry and on turning to the page we found a choice of names, not one of which over much resembles that in use at the present day.

Cookstone, Coclestane, Cucolanstan, Cuclestena, beside half a dozen more aliases in its orthography, very interesting, doubtless, to the curious in such matters. Some wild hankerers after wildering etymologies will seek in some ornithological specimen the root of “Cuckoo-stone” whilst others will appropriate the Domesday name of “Cuckhold-stone” to some miserable victim of conjugal infidelity; so far as we however are personally concerned we prefer asserting that the etymology of Cuxton and its innumerable aliases is of adulterated Celtic origin with a Saxonic filial...
(5)
…Having ascertained the above, and looked into Dugdals (6) and other big books we shut them up and putting on our hat very majestically, stalked out of the reading room, leaving the attendants to put the heavy volumes back into their proper places, for, they are paid to do it.

A penny omnibus soon took us to Holborn Bridge, and then a cab conveyed us to the North Kent Line, where we obtained a ticket for Strood. As everybody knows the dirty-den, by courtesy styled a station at Strood, we will say no more about it, than, that if possible, it is now dirtier than ever. Thence to Cuxton is a very pretty walk. (7)

At the entrance to the village there is a post office (8), a nice old house; a little farther off is a public house (9), close, of course, to the church; at the east end of the burying ground where our rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep, is a modern school-room (10). The key was in the possession of the post-master who, marvellous to say for any one connected with the Post Office establishment, is a very civil and obliging individual! From the clergyman too, we were offered every accommodation in our hurried glance at the sacred fane (11); the situation of which on the edge of a lofty hill, is very pleasant, sloping down to the meandering Medway.

Cuxton church consists of a nave, chancel, south mortuary chapel, at the south-western angle of which is the staircase to the rood loft (12), a two-storied embattled tower, and north porch. The east window is a three-light, with early English window, blocked up. The mortuary chapel was very probably built with the materials previously comprised in some Roman structure, for both tufa and squared stones from the Andernach quarries (13) are worked up. The east window of this chapel is a square-headed Tudor two-light. This chapel is now used as a baptistery, and it contains a Norman font (14). On the west side the stone steps to the rood loft are evident.

There are several monumental slabs to the Marshams, who formerly resided in this parish (15). Lord Romney still possesses property here. On the south side is a piscina (16) under the arch. Severing the chancel from this chapel is a tomb, with round the edge “Hic iacet Ihohannes Botyler, rector hvivs ecclesie qvi obiit vitimo die junil, anno D.M. 1568” (17) in hatched and oblated capitals. Upon the tomb is a brass (18), with the following inscription: 

[PRAY] FOR THE SOULE OF JOHN BUTTYLL, PARSON [OF THIS]
CHURCHE AND CHAPLAYNE TO THE HIGH AND NOBYLL
[PRI]NCE EDWARDE WHICH Mr JOHN DECEASED THE [  ]
OF [  ] ANNO DOMINI MV [UPON] WHOSE SOULE JESU PARDON

The effigy above it has been torn away, but in its place is a fine and particularly curious palimpsest brass, or rather, (which we believe to be an unique instance) a portion of two brasses (19) joined together, upon one is ..atic Steere, twice repeated. These two different mortuary materials, were adapted by the heirs of the wealthy, all of whose inscriptions are now left, we give herewith. 

PRAY FOR THE SOULE OF JOHN [TURNER] WOLPACKER OF LONDON
SOME[TIME OF] [ST.] KATHERINE OF CHRISTCHURCH WHO DIED [  ]
AUGUST ANNO DOMINI MDXLV ON WHOSE SOULE JESU HAVE MERCY

There is also a corbel now carrying a marble slab to “Thomas Swindon, Rector”. The chancel contains some inscriptions on slabs which we trust the clergyman will one day translate for us (20). An aumbry (21) on north side, square aumbry on south wall. Some encaustic tiles (22) decorate the floor under the rails. On the south side of the chancel, adjoining the rood screen (23) is a large pew, upon which is some nicely carved linen pauncing (24). A bench also has two poppy heads.

The windows on the south side of the nave are two light square headed, and a blocked up doorway to which is a stoup. The old roof still remains. At the west end there is a gallery. The porch stands on the north side. The statue which erst filled up the niche has long since gone; some strangely painted tins, probably of heraldic meaning, now do the decorating business in its stead; upon one is a swan, and on the other is a cock’s head. To each door is a stoup (25).

Notes:

(1)        “Cantian”: an archaic expression meaning “of Kent”

(2)        The “priory of Lesnes”, otherwise called Lesnes Abbey, a Grade II-listed ruined abbey in Abbey Wood, with a long and fascinating history of its own.

(3)        The Rev. William Stukeley, a renowned antiquarian, who undertook a study of the ruins of Lesnes Abbey in April 1753. His original paper can be found here.

(4)        The manor of “Beresse”, or Upper Bush as we call it today.

(5)        In the interests of focussing on the Cuxton church aspects of the article, I have omitted the account of the ancient ecclesiastical wranglings related to the ownership of the ancient manor of Beresse that ensued at this point, and which can be found in Hasted’s history (link to the online version here).

(6)        Sir William Dugdale, another noted antiquarian. A list of his extensive works can be found here.

(7)        The North Kent railway line through Cuxton was not built until 1853 with Cuxton station being opened in 1856, hence the “very pretty walk”.

(8)        The Old Post Office Row, details here.

(9)        The White Hart, of course. They may well have been talking about the original building, which burned down around the time of our correspondent’s jaunt and was rebuilt in 1860. We don’t have any images of the original pub as far as I know, but perhaps it may have looked like the Walnut Tree at Halling…

The Walnut Tree off-licence in 1930, but pretty much unchanged for 300 years at the time...

(10)      This was the original Cuxton school, which was built just to the south-east of the church in 1849 at the instigation of the “clergyman” noted here, the Reverend Robert William Shaw.

Robert William Shaw's school, next to the church (c. 1920). It was demolished in 1964..

(11)      “Fane”: an archaic expression meaning “shrine” or “church”.

(12)    The small stone staircase in the corner of the chancel is still there, although it is now blocked off as the gallery it leads to now opens on to thin air.  It seems that at the time of this account, the rood screen was still present. There is some debate over what function the lofts may have served. See (23).

(13)    It is thought that some of the stone used in the construction of Roman Villas in Kent may have been imported from the ancient Andernach quarries of Germany. Recovered Roman materials were undoubtedly used in the construction of the Norman part of the church, but the tufa limestone (evidenced in the quoin stones – cornerstones - that mark the original Norman exterior end of the chancel before it was extended in the 13th century), flints and Kentish ragstone seen today could all be sourced locally (and probably were).

A column of tufa quoin stones (to the right of the end window) mark the corner of the original Norman chancel. 

(14)   The Norman font was replaced by the current Victorian one as part of Rev. Robert Shaw’s church “restoration” of 1865. 

The account suggests that the font used to be located opposite the "mortuary chapel" (Lady Chapel) rather than at the south end of the eastern aisle adjacent to the tower as it is today. Fonts are traditionally placed near the main door of a church and this suggests that the nave door was perhaps once the main door. This may have been the case as the majority of worshippers probably came from Whornes Place until Victorian times and the subsequent expansion of the village.  

The base of the existing font is the original Norman one, but the original font itself was at one time dumped outside in the graveyard by Canon Colson’s memorial. I believe it is now in the church storeroom.

(15)      In his 1976 book, “Cuxton – a Kentish Village”, author Derek Church refers to the black marble ledger stones of the Marshams, noting their fine inscriptions (they are also mentioned in the Registrum Roffense). They are not visible in the chancel now as they have been carpeted over! Certainly some other ledger stones have been covered by the thoughtless location of the (Victorian – again!) church organ (as has the Harley memorial), but the organ was not installed until 1881, long after the visit of our two correspondents.

(16)      “Piscina”: a small basin, trough or sink set in the wall of a church used for the use and subsequent disposal of Holy Water or other consecrated liquids, and which drains (via a sacrarium) directly to ground, thus ensuring it is respectfully returned to earth rather than mixed with common drainage.

(17)      Translates from the Latin as: 

 + Here lies John Buttyll, Rector of this Church, who died on the last day of June 1568 A.D. + 

John Buttyll was at one time chaplain to John Fisher, Archbishop of Rochester (who was shamefully treated and subsequently executed by Henry VIII), and then subsequently to Edward VI. Buttyll is Cuxton’s longest-serving Rector to date, holding that office from 1522 until his death in 1568.

John Thorpe’s Registrum Roffense of 1769 tells us that the inscription on his altar tomb was around the “verge of the upper stone”. The tomb was moved from its position between the chancel and the Lady Chapel during the Rev. Shaw's Victorian “restoration” of St. Michaels during 1865-1868, and placed outside under the south-eastern chancel window. 

The altar tomb of John Buttyll, Rector of Cuxton, 1522-1568..

It was not given any protection from the elements and has now become so badly weather-worn that no trace of any inscriptions are visible.

The newspaper article is interesting for what it omits, as well as what it describes. For example, no mention is made of the Lady Harley memorial (latterly moved from the chancel to the Lady Chapel) nor of the tomb of Caleb Parfect (which was in the nave and was also removed as part of the Victorian “restoration”). 

The tomb of Caleb Parfect, Rector of Cuxton 1719-1770...

This tomb was subsequently placed in its current position outside in the southern graveyard opposite the south door of the nave (and has suffered the same subsequent weathering as that of the tomb of John Buttyll).

These two striking monuments would have certainly have been seen by our two intrepid Victorian correspondents, but why they were not considered worthy of mention in their subsequent account is a puzzle.

(18)      This brass and the one described later were both on display on the wall of the south aisle until 1995, when they were (wisely) taken down and sent to Rochester Guildhall Museum for safe-keeping (along with a framed description of the two palimpsests written by the Rev. Charles Rae in 1955). They are not on public display but the helpful folk at the museum found them, got them out of storage for me and let me photograph them a few months back…

Brass palimpsest from the tomb of John Buttyll (actual size ex frame = 40 x 9 cm)...

The date of Buttyll’s death was not filled in, suggesting that the brass was prepared beforehand. Both these palimpsests were damaged even at the time of the visit described above, but the full text of each is given in the 2011 Kent Archaeological Society review of the memorials at St. Michaels (and which I used to fill in the blanks in the original account above):

The Rev, Rae's description of the two brasses that used to accompany them... 

(19)      The John Turner palimpsest...

Actual size of the brass itself (without frame) is 28 x 12.5 cm...

(20)      The marble plaque in memory to Thomas Swindon was put up by a grieving father who had lost three young sons. It is now hidden by the organ. The Latin inscription is quoted in full in John Thorpe’s Registrum Roffense of 1769 and translated, reads:

"SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF THOMAS

SON OF TOBIAS SWINDEN M.A./AND RECTOR OF THIS CHURCH

A CHILD OF BEAUTIFUL FORM/NATURE AND CHARACTER

DIED AUGUST 30th A.D.1700

AGED 7 YEARS

AND IS HERE BURIED WITH HIS/LITTLE BROTHERS/CLEMENT AND JOHN

WHO FROM HIS BIRTH SHED FORTH/SO MANY RAYS OF LIGHT OF A

NATURE SO BEAUTIFUL THAT/AT LENGTH HE WAS PROMOTED

TO THE HIGHEST LIGHT/HASTENING DEATH SNATCHED HIM

IN HIS YOUTHFUL DAYS AND/COVETING HIS VIRTUES BELIEVED

HIM TO BE A MAN"

Wall monument to the memory of Tobias Swindon...

This poignant memorial says much about the infant mortality rate at the time.

(21)      “Aumbry”: an ecclesiastical word for “cupboard”…

(22)      Encaustic tiles are a type of coloured tile where the pattern forms an integral part of the “baked in” fabric of the tile and so cannot be worn off.  Such patterned tiles cannot be seen under the chancel rails now.

The altar, set for harvest festival in 1958. Note what were perhaps the "encaustic"
tiles on the floor, which is now boarded and carpeted over...

(23)      A rood screen is typically a carved wooden screen that separates the chancel from the nave. At St. Michaels, the rood screen was moved and put across the tower arch. The associated loft was lost.

(24)      Me neither…

(25)      A stoup is a vessel for Holy Water, usually placed by the entrance to a church, often in a small alcove next to a door. It used to be the custom to cleanse your fingers in Holy Water before “crossing yourself”. There is still such an alcove by the north door, now used as a home for the first aid box...

The Lady Harley Memorial...

Perhaps one of the most striking artefacts in Cuxton’s history is also one of the hardest to find and appreciate. Hidden away on the south-western wall  of the Lady Chapel in St. Michaels and All Angels Church (and not accessible to the public) is the Lady Harley memorial...

Commissioned by Sir Robert Harley in remembrance of his late and first wife Ann (who died in 1603) the marble installation is a richly-coloured classical wall monument and one that (rather perversely) is now completely obscured by the church organ. It deserves so much better and needs some repair and restoration, although the work undertaken on it in 1723 by Lord Edward Harley (the famous parliamentarian and son of Sir Robert and his third wife) has lasted well. 

The Harley family is of ancient lineage (with one source suggesting that it pre-dates the Norman Conquest) and by 1221 were in possession of the Shropshire manor from which they took their name. The property subsequently passed out of the family through an heiress, but by that time a family branch had established itself at Brampton Bryan, ten miles south west of Ludlow. Situated in the extreme north of Herefordshire, Brampton Bryan lay close to the borders with Radnorshire and Shropshire.

From the fourteenth century the Harleys played a leading part in those two county communities. The first member of the family to make a place in national life was Sir Robert Harley (1579-1656), who became Master of the Mint under Charles I and M.P. for Radnor Boroughs in 1604, for Herefordshire in 1624, 1626 and 1640 and for Evesham in 1628.

On 13^th. Feb. 1602, Sir Robert married Ann Barrett. Born in 1583, she was the daughter of Sir Charles Barrett of Belhus, Aveley, Essex and Christian (nee Mildmay) Barrett and the sister of Sir Edward Barrett. When Anne Barrett-Harley's father died, her mother married Sir John Leveson on 9th June, 1586.

Heraldic symbols on the Harley memorial: the red and white chequer is associated with the Barrett family, whilst the other devices are those of the Harley dynasty...

Ann was thus the step-daughter of Sir John Leveson, then owner and resident of Whorne’s Place, thus establishing the link between the Herefordshire-based Harley dynasty and Cuxton.

The match probably arose as a result of Harley’s close connection with the Shropshire branch of the Leveson family, for the brother of Sir John Leveson Junior, (Sir Richard Leveson of Lilleshall Lodge, Shropshire) was his first cousin. Although marriages within the aristocracy in those days were often merely arrangements driven by politics and property, it seems that there was genuine love between the young Robert Harley and his equally youthful wife.

Sadly, their marriage was cut short after just less than two years – Lady Ann Harley and her new-born baby son Thomas both died in childbirth on 1st. December 1603.

It seems possible that the couple were staying with Sir John Leveson at Whorne’s Place at the time, as records show that Sir Robert was latterly acting on behalf of at least two Kentish Lords (Sir Henry Crispe of Quex House, Birchington and Thomas Crayford, the son of Sir William Crayford of Great Mongeham) making representations for them in the Houses of Parliament.

What is certain is that Ann and her child were laid to rest at St. Michaels and All Angels Church, with Sir Robert Harley instigating the remarkable monument to her memory that still exists today.

The text of the main plaque on the memorial leaves us in no doubt as to the extent of Sir Robert’s grief...

"HERE DEATH HATH SPORTED, TYRANT-LIKE IN BLOOD,

IN TAKINGE LIFE FROM YOUTH AND WOMANHOOD,

ACTINGE THE DOOME OF HIS INFORCED DUTY,

REGARDLES OF MODESTY OR BEAUTY,

BUT I AM MUCH IN LOSS OF SO GREAT BLIS,

THOUGH NOT REPAIRED YET COMFORTED IN THIS,

THAT DEATH IN HIS PROUD CONQUEST HATH NO JOTT,

OF THIS UNTIMELY SPOILE FOULEN TO HIS LOTT,

EARTH HATH POSSESSION OF HER EARTHLY PARTE,

WICH SHE INCLOSETH IN A MOTHER'S HEARTE,

HERE SOUL IN HEAVEN, HER MEMORY ALIVE,

AND THAT WHICH EARTH DETAINES NOW SHALL REVIVE,

AND IN DESPITE OF ALL DEVIDINGE DEATH,

MEETINGE THE REST SHALL DRAW A JOYFULL BREATH"

The plaque below reads:

LET THIS INFORM PROSPERITY THAT HERE LYETH ANN DAUGHTER TO CHARLES BARRET

OF BELHOUSE IN THE COUNTY OF ESSEX, ESQR. WHICH ANN WAS MARIED TO SIR ROBERT

HARLEY, KNIGHT OF THE BATH THE 13th FEBRUARY 1602 AND DECEASED THE FIRST OF

DECEMBER 1603 BY WHOM HE HAD ISSUE A SON NAMED THOMAS WHICH LIES HERE ALSO

BURIED IN MEMORY OF WHOM HER SORROWFUL HUSBAND HATH CAUSED THIS 

MONUMENT TO BE ERECTED AS THE LAST OFFICE OF HIS LOVE

"LINQVENDA TELLVS ET DOMUS ET PLACENS VXOR"

The last line translates from the Latin as “Leaving Earth and home with a pleasant wife”.

In his Registrum Roffense of 1769, John Thorpe tells us that below the monument, on white marble, there was also an inscription that read: “This monument was repaired at the charge of Edward, Lord Harley, 1723”.

I can find no such marble and I assume it was removed during the Victorian "restoration" of the church in the 1860s. 

Death's Head, topped by an hourglass: perhaps a symbol of how fleeting are our lives on earth...

It is recorded that on August 27^th 1723, Lord Edward Harley rode out to Cuxton “through very straight (narrow) lanes” to inspect the monument. When he reached the village, it is said that some poor women of the place strewed mint upon the road out of their aprons (a practice that seems as unlikely as it is bizarre, at least by modern standards).

In terms of the location of the monument, Edward Hasted (in his 1797 “History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3) tells us that it was to be found “in the chancel, within the rails of the south wall”. Similarly, the Registrum Roffense states it was set "within the communion rails, on the South wall". In that position today is a stained-glass window, of a plainer and seemingly later design than the two magnificent windows in the south-east and eastern chancel walls.

This suggests that the Harley monument may have been moved to its current position as part of the church restoration works of the 1860s, which saw the building of the “new” south aisle and restoration of the Lady Chapel, where the memorial now resides.

This proved to be somewhat unfortunate. In 1881, the church organ was duly installed in the Lady Chapel, thus completely obscuring the view of the Lady Harley memorial. If the memorial had been left where it was, it would have been so much better. Why the church officials decided to place the organ in the Lady Chapel really is completely beyond me. It would have seemed logical to place it in the newly-enlarged nave.

Fruit, and in particular apples and pears, were associated with female fertility and here, possibly allude to the death of the young mother. Pears were also associated with mortality or death.

Ironically, it is conceivable that the Lady Harley memorial could well have suffered a much worse fate as a result of the religious beliefs of its creator. Sir Robert Harley was a committed Puritan, supported in his beliefs by his third wife, the splendidly-named Brilliana (daughter of Sir Edward Conway, then a Secretary of State). In April 1843 (against the febrile background of the English Civil War), Sir Robert was made head of the Committee for the Demolition of Monuments of Superstition and Idolatry, which presided over the destruction of a great deal of religious art and architecture. Fortunately, the memorial escaped the fervour of the puritans.

In terms of the photograph you see here, it is a composite of about 20 individual images. There is only about a four foot clearance between the monument and the back of the organ. I therefore had to mount a camera on a frame and move it around to gather the images I needed to put together an overall view, using the magic of image processing software.

(Note that I have taken the liberty of making some small “enhancements”: I have erased the rather thoughtless electrical wiring for the organ that otherwise disfigures the right hand side of the memorial. I have also “replaced” the missing scroll to the left of the gilded lion’s head below the main plaque. Otherwise, what you see is how it is - or how it would be, if the organ wasn’t in the way!)

Whilst the process of compositing from multiple close-ups has resulted in some rather odd perspective effects if you look closely, the final image nevertheless gives a good overall impression of the memorial, one that has not been seen for over 140 years.

References:

1)   The History of Parliament, entry for Sir Robert Harley (1579-1656)

2)   The Harley family and the Harley papers by Clyve Jones, 1989

3)   WikiTree entry for Anne (Barrett) Harley (1583-1603)

4)   Edward Hasted, 'Parishes: Cookstone', in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 3 (Canterbury, 1797), pp 389-403

5)   Cuxton – a Kentish Village, by Derek Church .p.22, 24 (1976)

6)   Puritan Iconoclasm in England 1640-1660, pp. 75-136 (Ph.D thesis by Julie Spraggon, 2000)

7)  Registrum Roffense, by John Thorpe, pp.769-770.

The Bells of St. Michael's...

The sound of church bells on a clear Sunday summer’s morning is a quintessentially English one. The peal of St. Michaels has always been enjoyed by the vast majority of Cuxton's residents, and perhaps some of them might have noticed that the church bells were ringing for rather longer than usual this Sunday morning.

This is because a specialist team of ringers had committed to undertake a “quarter peal” of a bell-ringing method called “Plain Bob Doubles”, which took around 45 minutes (a video clip with sound illustrates about 30 seconds of that, as below...).

It seems that church bells have been rung at Cuxton since at least the fourteenth century. In 1866, when a peal of five new bells was placed in the tower, three older, cracked bells were removed. The treble bore the inscription:

+CRISTUS PERPETUE DET NOBIS GAUDIA VITE+

...which means ‘may Christ give us the blessing of eternal life’. On the crown of the bell, repeated three times, was a shield bearing three heraldic laver-pots (ewers) which dated it as later fourteenth century. The bell was believed to be the work of William Wodeward, a Kentish bell-founder who lived from 1395 to 1420.

The other old bell was apparently cast by Giles Reve, an Elizabethan bell-founder who worked from 1584 to 1592. The Cuxton bell was unusual for having the surname of the bell-founder omitted, the inscription reading:

BY WE GYLLES BELLFOANDER 1589

Giles Reve appears to have been a local man as his work is only found in the northern part of mid-Kent. In the Middle Ages, it was common practice for bell-founders to travel from church to church with their tools and materials, and for them to cast the bells in sand mould made in the churchyard.

The third bell was believed to be of 15th or early 16th century manufacture and bore the Latin inscription: 

+HAEC CAMPANA CANORA MAGDALENAE NOMEN GERIT+

("This tuneful bell bears the name of Magdalen").

These older bells were probably "chimed" when rung, that is, they were just rocked back and forth, which is the way church bells are usually rung throughout the world, with the exception of the UK (and its former colonies). In England in the seventeenth century, the style of "full circle" ringing was developed. The bells were spun until they almost reached their balance point at the top of their cycle, with the mouth of the bell pointing upwards. It was found that this gave much greater control over exactly when the bell sounded, allowing the subsequent development of "change ringing", a practice that produces the ever-changing peals that are so characteristic of well-rung English bell-towers. 

Traditionally, St. Michaels has always had a highly-competent team of ringers. While the ringers at many church bell-towers are content to ring simple rounds or “call changes”, the Cuxton teams have tended to be a bit more ambitious, being proponents of the complex art of “method ringing”

At the turn of the twentieth century, John Cogger was Tower Captain. He served in that role until 1919, when Charles Cogger took over until WW2. Ringing was temporarily stopped by order of parliament as a result of the war, but the bells were kept in good order during that period as they would have used as a means of warning in the event of invasion.

After the war, Jim Cogger took over as Tower Captain in 1945, at the head of a strong team of ringers composed of the old pre-war hands plus some younger enthusiasts.

The Rev. G. Taylor did not care for bells, causing a temporary break during 1951-1955, until a new team was formed after the Rev. Charles Rae’s institution.

Cuxton bell-ringers, 1956: L to R; Lorna Russell, Jim Cogger, Bernice Rogers, Harold Gregory, Peter Bond, Derek Church.

In 1964, local historian, keen bell-ringer and professional architect Derek Church discovered that the church tower was becoming dangerously unstable and needed extensive remedial work. Fundraising commenced and an informative pamphlet was produced, which outlined a brief history of the church and gave details of the tower repair work to be undertaken.

Cover of the 1964 "Tower Appeal" pamphlet...

As part of the repairs, the opportunity was taken to return the existing five bells to their 1866 birthplace, Mears and Stainbank of the famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry, for repair and re-tuning. (Alas, this historic foundry has long since closed…).

Scope of the 1964 church remedial work, as outlined by Derek Church...

At the same time, an additional new treble was cast by the Whitechapel Foundry, and mounted on a new steel frame above what became the No. 2 bell.

The repair work was completed by local building firm F. Hayward and Sons, and ringing recommenced with a complement of six bells rather than five, which allowed more comprehensive methods of change-ringing to be undertaken.

In 1964 after repairs were complete, yet another generation of the Cogger family took on the role of Tower Captain, Colin Cogger. His work eventually took him away from the area and others took up the mantle, but Colin is still very much around and still rings occasionally.

Here are a few facts and figures about the bells of St. Michaels: 

Bell no:	Weight (lb/kg)	Bell diameter (inches)	Note
1 (the “treble”)	400 / 181	23	F♯
2	432 / 196	24.75	E
3	501 / 227	26.63	D
4	591 / 268	30.75	C♯
5	687 / 312	32.88	B
6 (the “tenor”)	833 / 378	35.5	A

Bells 1, 2 and 3 at St. Michaels: No. 1 in the frame over No.2 with No.3 on the right...

Clockwise from left, bells 3, 4, 5 and 6 at St. Michaels...

Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuned bells in a tightly-controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes".

Stickmen ringing "rounds": see how the stay and slider mechanism would prevent the bell from turning more than about 350 degrees - not that a competent ringer would "over-pull" to that extent...

Two forms of ringing changes have developed; Call changes and Method ringing. This would be a huge post if I were to go into the details of these: indeed, whole books have been written on the subtle and intricate art of change ringing, but a nice little summary can be found on good old Wikipedia (link here).

Looking at the mechanics of bell-ringing shows how the regular striking of a bell is dictated by the way it swings through almost (but not quite) a full circle. (Again, I don’t plan to go into the mechanics of church bells but if you are interested, it’s all explained very concisely - and with nice animated diagrams - here…).

Bells 4, 5 and 6 at St. Michaels: the wheel of No.3 is on the right

Church bells are very heavy and the time between strikes cannot be changed by much, as no bell-ringer would have the strength to suddenly put the brakes on a bell once it is swinging full circle. This obviously limits the practical change of interval between successive strikes – it’s why you can’t play tunes on church bells!

As I noted above, bell-ringing at St. Michaels has a long history. 

It was gratifying to see how warmly Cuxton’s residents received the resumption of the traditional Wednesday evening bell-ringing practice sessions after the lifting of remaining coronavirus restrictions at the end of February this year.

Practice nights are usually well-attended, but unfortunately it is becoming increasingly difficult to support traditional Sunday service ringing, as many of the ringers have commitments at other towers on a Sunday.

Several of Cuxton’s ringing team have recently had to retire from bell-ringing because of the frailties associated with old age. It is to be hoped that a few more new faces will go along to practice evenings on a Wednesday in an attempt to learn the difficult but rewarding art of church bell-ringing, and to carry on the tradition at Cuxton.

It would be sad if the passage of time finally achieves what world wars, tower repairs, the recent coronavirus lockdowns and even hostile vicars could not – the permanent silencing of the bells of St. Michaels. 

References:

1)            Dove’s Guide for Bell-Ringers, Cuxton entry

2)              Wikipedia: Change Ringing

3)              Cuxton – A Kentish Village, by Derek Church (published by Arthur J. Cassell, 1976, ISBN 0 903253 12 7)

4)              How Bells Work – Ilsingtonparish.co.uk