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The Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Lynsted has a long recorded history beginning as a chapel of the Church of nearby Teynham which is itself noted in the Domesday Book.
As with so many parish churches, exact dating of the various stages in its development is as much an art as a science. Early clues are often found in fonts that may survive other changes brought about by fire, collapse or a change in fasion. We know, for example, that the modern St Catherines Church in Kingsdown is built on the site of an earlier wooden church. The same may be true for our own church as it grew with its community. This is an area ripe for research and David Wood has obliged with an important article on the history of the Church that we have reproduced here.
Other articles relevant to the Church:
Bells are also useful in detection of tower development and can predate stone structures where original towers were made of wood. Our earliest surviving bell was cast in 1600.
A picture of 1790 was found in a linen chest that shows the Church in quite a different setting. If you want to look at the painting in detail, there is a very large copy of the picture here. This picture hung in the old Vicarage for many years.
Throughout the Church building are several memorials and tablets that have been recorded by David Wood, whose research is reproduced here with thanks to him. His latest contribution (April 2006) is a discussion of the families either directly or loosely associated with the North Chapel (Huggesons, Knatchbull, Jane Austen (yes, that one), and Lord Brabourne).
Our church as a surprisingly large number of hatchments, restored and on display. They mostly marked the passing of Ropers but there are some Hugessons too. Not sure what a hatchment is? The description used here is based on a note by Peter Meiklejohn - Honorary Librarian of the Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men.
Our Hatchments on Display........
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