The History of St Margarets Church, Broomfield

A short note on it's origins and architecture

 Origins.

 In his history of the county of Kent (1798) hasted devoted just under three pages to the parish of Broomfield. An extract from his account succinctly described the environment there:

"The parish of bromfield (the old spelling) extends towards the north as far as Leeds Castle, part of which, as well as of the park, is within the bounds of it. The Lenham rivulet flows through the northern part of it. Near the stream there is some tolerable fertile meadow ground. The church is situated on a rise on the northern side of the parish, which is but of moderate extent from east to west; above the church the lands are poor and heathy where there is a warren, which has for a long time been the property of the owners of Leeds Castle... there is no village, but a few habitations in the parish... besides which there is not any thing further in this parish worth notice"

Hasted rightly assumed that the place "took its name from the quantities of broom and heath, with which the greatest part... was then covered" (see eilert Ekwalls Dictionary of English Pace-names, 1960).

Hasted mention of a warren is probably the clue to the start of Broomfields history. Warrens came into being after the Norman conquest when the rabbit was introduced into England as an extra food item. For obvious reasons they were normally placed at the extremities of manorial lands. The Domesday Book further elucidates when it reveals that both Leeds and Broomfield were given by William the conqueror to his half brother, Odo of Bayeux. Broomfield was assessed for a paltry one sulung (an amount of land depending on the quality of the soil and so varying from 60 to 180 acres) and had five villagers and ten smallholders. Broomfield had twelve servants, Leeds twenty eight.

Odo later rebelled against William. He was disgraced and Leeds and Broomfield reverted to the conqueror who granted them to the crevecoeur family. One of the family, Robert,founded in 1119 the Augustinian priory of St Mary and St Nicholas at Leeds (Peter Tester, 'excavations on the site of Leeds Priory', archeologia cantiana, XCIII, p33). In the county archives office at Maidstone there is a 1272 confirmation of Archbishop Robert Kilwardby which enumerates churches, including those at Leeds and Broomfield, granted to the priory by Robert Crevecoeur (Leslie Sherwood, 'The Cartulary of Leeds Priory' Archeologia Cantiana LXIV, p24). As there was no mention of a church of chapel at Broomfield in the 1086 Domesday book, its construction most likely took place between that date and 1119.

The Augustinian Canons, unlike all other men in monastic orders in Kent except for the premonastratensians, were priests and this may explain why they were so keen to gather in advowsons. More churches in their control meant they had to provide more priests from their numbers and so the order grew. Broomfield and Leeds churches (and also the chapel in Leeds castle) were always easy to administer with the priory so near and we may assume that such a situation continued until the dissolution of the priory occurred in 1538.

The two places were apparently considered an entity during the middle ages. In 1346 in the 'Book of Aids' the queens property there was entered as "one feof in Bromfield and Ledes"

After the dissolving of the monasteries there came a period of increasing protestant ascendancy until queen Mary's reign (1553-58) restored a catholic priesthood. In the few years between the 1530's and the 1550's the churches throughout the country had lost their catholic appearance, certainly in furniture and fittings. Archdeacon Harpsfield in 1557 perambulated the county and tried to make redress. His report on Leeds church and Broomfield chapel showed what a falling away had occurred. He noted that "the prior of the monastery was accustomed to find the curate... that farmer of the parsonage paieth to my Lodre Cardinalles Grace (Archbishop Reginald Pole) for the same yerelie 20 pounds and with the same he is bounde to find a curate here and another in Bromefield viz. 7 pounds, 6 shillings and 8 pence to Ledes and 5 pounds to bromefield". At Leeds "the chauncell is gratelie in decaye and there hathe not bene done anny reparacions manny yeares so that the parisheners have bene constreyned to leye their owne tile appon the same to the value of 25 shillings and 10 pence". this was essentially an obligation of the rector who had succeeded to the responsibilities of the priory.

During this period - in 1555 - five protestant martyrs were burned at Canterbury for their faith (Foxe's 'Book of Martyrs'). Among them was George Brodbridge of Broomfield. He was examined about his beliefs and answered that he would not be confessed by a priest because he could not forgive his own sins. "and further said, that in the sacrement of the alter there is not the real body of Christ, but bread given in the remembrance of him".

 When Broomfield became a parish separated from Leeds is not known for certain.

 Architecture.

The church is essentially a Norman two-part, one of nave and chancel plus a late medieval western tower, and with the relatively modern additions of a vestry and western porch.

John Newman (pevsner's 'West Kent and the weald') has written that "a tiny blocked Norman N. window fixes the date of the nave walls". The norman church would have consisted of but a plain nave and chancel. unfortunately, all traces of the Norman chancel disappeared when it was remodelled in 1879 by Gordon M Hills, the architect of St Michaels church, Tenterden (Roger Homan, 'The Victorian churches of Kent')

 What to see outside the church.

 Nave: South Wall

1. This has been considerably rebuilt but there remains signs of a south doorway and possibly some round heads of Norman windows (the eye of faith needed here). A 1506 will mentions the making of a porch.

2. The Wykeham-Martin vault is beneath the Nave's east end and the rectangular vent to this may be seen at foot level.

3. Note that no tufa (a locally quarried limestone much favoured by the Normans) is used in the walls. Ragstone predominates (compare Leeds church where tufa forms a considerable part of the Norman tower).

 Nave: North wall

1. West of the lancet containing the Wykeham-Martin heraldic glass is a blocked narrow lancet of the 13th century.

2. Near the west end there remains the ogee head of a 14th century window.

 Chancel:

1. under the eastern gable is a tablet which informs us that the chancel was rebuilt by Susannah Meredith of Leeds Abbey in 1749.

2. The chancel was reconstituted in 1879 by Gordon M Hills. The south wall has a good example of galleting whereby the mortar joints between the ragstone blocks are decorated and strengthened by stone chippings.

3. On the rainwater head on the south side is the date 1879, the date of the beginning of the Victorian restoration.

4. On the north side is a Victorian vestry which internally is almost filled by the organ case.

 Western Tower:

1. Two stages. Battlemented. No buttresses - in this parallel to the perpendicular tower of Hollingbourne church and with similar window surrounds.

2. An original western entrance with rectangular dripstone and hollow, concave moulding. Obscured by a modern porch.

 What to see inside the church.

 Nave:

1. A Victorian oak pulpit stands in a recess (pseudo transept) with a stone seat. There is a similar recess on the north side, but without a capital.

2. Behind the pulpit is  tablet to lieutenant Robert Hatch (died 1817) who belonged to the 53rd regiment of Foot (Kings Shropshire Light Infantry) and served on Ste Helena when Emperor Napoleon was in exile there. At the same time, as chaplain on the island, was the reverend Richard Boys who later became vicar of neighbouring Loose parish.

3. South wall memorial to the reverend Richard Fiennes Wykeham-Martin who died in 1861. Sculptor Bennett of Brighton.

4. in the north wall is a lancet window containing attractive heraldic glass, in memory of Philip Wykeham-Martin MP, given by his widow who paid for the restoration, 1879-80.

5. Next to (4) a perpendicular style two-light window with late medieval glass in the heads.

6. Three moulded, oak tie beams, the two westerly with late medieval crown posts. The eastern-most beam is a replacement with no crown-post. All three have been embellished with much later applied crenellations.

7. An eight-sided font copied from a perpendicular original.

8. The tower arch is of the perpendicular period and is well placed in the available two storeys.

 Chancel:

1. The vestry on the north side contains a one manual pipe organ by Henry Jones of London. It is still (1984) pumped by hand. The arch which tops the pipes is modelled on the original chancel arch.

2. The three-light eastern window was designed in the perpendicular style at the Victorian restoration. It contains glass in memory of Charles Wykeham-Martin (died 1858) and his wife Matilda.

3. A single tie beam crown-posted roof made Victorian fashionable pine.

4. The perpendicular style chancel arch is original except for the replacement capitals.

5. The vestry door by the organ is made up from 17th century carved oak fragments.

Tower:

1. It has no ringing chamber and the three bells are rung at ground level.

2. Bells (Stahlschmidt, 'The church bells of Kent'). Of the three bells, the important on is that cast locally in 1663 by William Hatch. Formerly there was a Tenor bell dated 1579 but with no founders name or stamp. It was probably made by Thomas Hatch.

The Hatch family of bellfounders seemingly all lived at Rose's Farm, names after William Rose who bought it in 1461 (R H Goodsall, 'The Hatch bellfoundry in Broomfield and Ulcombe', 'A Third Kentish Patchwork'). In 1606 Joseph Hatch is known to have been a tenant. The Bellfounding business ended with William Hatch who made the 1663 bell for the church. One grave in the churchyard, on the south side of the church, is a tombstone which covers the remains of Joseph Hatch, Bellfounder, who died aged 78 in 1639.

Miscellaneous:

1. The earliest register (baptisms, Marriages and Deaths) for the period 1579-1775 is on deposit in the Kent Archives Office, Maidstone. In the Diocesan registry there is a transcript which begins in 1567. This suggests that the separation from Leeds Parish had started by then.

2. Arthur Hussey in 'Testamenta Cantiana' transcribes several wills which contain instructive items concerning the church. in 1506 John Mason left money for the making of the porch, for a light of St Margaret and a light for the Rood. In 1507 Agnes, widow of Richard Caring of Leeds, bequeathed a sum for lights of all souls, St Blaise (patron saint of wollmen) and St Katherine, and also 12 pence for the reparation of St Margarets Well, possibly the well still existing at the nearby wayside. John Broomfield at the end of the 15th century left a vestment valued 46 shillings and 8 pence, a copper-gilt cross with its staff and two small lattern (copper alloy) candlesticks for the high alter.

3. Church Plate. The cream of this is a silver paten weighing 8 1/2 ounces and bearing the London hallmarks for 1631.

 Text by Allen Grove.