St Rumwold_'s Church, Bonnington
A particularly striking feature of Bonnington's landscape is the low elevation above sea level of much of the land to the north of the Royal Military Canal - on average only 10 ft (3m) to 100 ft (31m) above sea level. This very low-lying area once lay directly on the English Channel, and the Royal Military Canal, which separates the low lying area from the even lower Romney Marsh, marks the English Channel's former shoreline. Although Bonnington is mentioned in the 11th Century Domesday Book, little is known of its early history, other than the fact that for several centuries it was owned by the military order of chivalry known as the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. In the 19th Century, smuggling was a significant activity in Bonnington, but this declined rapidly with the capture of the infamous Ransley Gang. This Aldington Gang of smugglers in the 1820's came from Aldington about 1 mile inland, and the area was one of the main routes for the goods to come in to Aldington from the Marshes. It is likely that St Rumwolds church was used to store the contraband.
From at least the time of Queen Elizabeth 1st, if not before, an old oak tree known as the Law-Day Oak, has played a significant role in the governance of Bonnington parish. In earlier times, the Law-Day Oak provided the setting for Courts held to hear local pleas, and to this day the Bonnington Annual Parish Meeting is held under the branches of this ancient oak. However, the old tree recently blew down leaving just a stump which is still alive so far as I know.
In 1889 a Mrs White wrote in a learned journal this about the Law-Day Oak:
"In the out-of-the-way villages on the borders of Romney marsh, the former home of shepherds and smugglers, the light of civilisation has not long shone, and many rites and superstitions connected with the worship of the oak are still persisted in by the inhabitants. A special sacredness appertains to the vows of lovers exchanged beneath the Bonnington oak, and its leaves, gathered with a certain formula at a certain time of night, are still sought by childless women and made into a medicinal draught, with the same intention as in Druidical days."
So far as the church is concerned, Rumwold was a seventh-century saint about whom very little is known, and there are only eight churches dedicated to him in England. This site has been a place of Christian worship since AD 796. The architecture and materials used in the construction of the church suggest a Norman date, but the size of the building is an indicator of a Saxon origin which gives a little credence to its reputation for being the oldest church on the Romney Marsh.
St Rumwold_'s Church, Bonnington
A particularly striking feature of Bonnington's landscape is the low elevation above sea level of much of the land to the north of the Royal Military Canal - on average only 10 ft (3m) to 100 ft (31m) above sea level. This very low-lying area once lay directly on the English Channel, and the Royal Military Canal, which separates the low lying area from the even lower Romney Marsh, marks the English Channel's former shoreline. Although Bonnington is mentioned in the 11th Century Domesday Book, little is known of its early history, other than the fact that for several centuries it was owned by the military order of chivalry known as the Knights Hospitaller of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. In the 19th Century, smuggling was a significant activity in Bonnington, but this declined rapidly with the capture of the infamous Ransley Gang. This Aldington Gang of smugglers in the 1820's came from Aldington about 1 mile inland, and the area was one of the main routes for the goods to come in to Aldington from the Marshes. It is likely that St Rumwolds church was used to store the contraband.
From at least the time of Queen Elizabeth 1st, if not before, an old oak tree known as the Law-Day Oak, has played a significant role in the governance of Bonnington parish. In earlier times, the Law-Day Oak provided the setting for Courts held to hear local pleas, and to this day the Bonnington Annual Parish Meeting is held under the branches of this ancient oak. However, the old tree recently blew down leaving just a stump which is still alive so far as I know.
In 1889 a Mrs White wrote in a learned journal this about the Law-Day Oak:
"In the out-of-the-way villages on the borders of Romney marsh, the former home of shepherds and smugglers, the light of civilisation has not long shone, and many rites and superstitions connected with the worship of the oak are still persisted in by the inhabitants. A special sacredness appertains to the vows of lovers exchanged beneath the Bonnington oak, and its leaves, gathered with a certain formula at a certain time of night, are still sought by childless women and made into a medicinal draught, with the same intention as in Druidical days."
So far as the church is concerned, Rumwold was a seventh-century saint about whom very little is known, and there are only eight churches dedicated to him in England. This site has been a place of Christian worship since AD 796. The architecture and materials used in the construction of the church suggest a Norman date, but the size of the building is an indicator of a Saxon origin which gives a little credence to its reputation for being the oldest church on the Romney Marsh.