John Lawrence 438
Church Whitfield, St Peter’s Church
There has been a church here for many centuries. "In AD 772, King Offa of Mercia (who held sway over Kent at that time) gave part of the area to St Augustine's at Canterbury and there was a church here named St Peter's in about 1070. The present building still has two of the original Saxon windows. The church has never had a tower and the single bell has been housed in successive wooden bellcotes. The present bell is said to be the oldest in Kent, dating from the early 13th century and possibly a little earlier.
At some point in the later medieval period, a new village was formed to the west. This may have been due to the Black Death, whereby many villages moved their centre of habitation a mile or two for fear of being too near the burial site of victims. The ‘new’ village became known as West Whitfield, before changing to Lower Whitfield and now simply as ‘Whitfield’ as the village gradually grew. Old Whitfield to the northeast then became known as Church Whitfield. The villages developed quite different characters but maintained a close attachment in terms of physical proximity. All these villages are now part of Dover District.
My thanks to a lot of different resources.
MY THANKS TO ALL WHO VISIT AND COMMENT IT IS APPRECIATED.
Church Whitfield, St Peter’s Church
There has been a church here for many centuries. "In AD 772, King Offa of Mercia (who held sway over Kent at that time) gave part of the area to St Augustine's at Canterbury and there was a church here named St Peter's in about 1070. The present building still has two of the original Saxon windows. The church has never had a tower and the single bell has been housed in successive wooden bellcotes. The present bell is said to be the oldest in Kent, dating from the early 13th century and possibly a little earlier.
At some point in the later medieval period, a new village was formed to the west. This may have been due to the Black Death, whereby many villages moved their centre of habitation a mile or two for fear of being too near the burial site of victims. The ‘new’ village became known as West Whitfield, before changing to Lower Whitfield and now simply as ‘Whitfield’ as the village gradually grew. Old Whitfield to the northeast then became known as Church Whitfield. The villages developed quite different characters but maintained a close attachment in terms of physical proximity. All these villages are now part of Dover District.
My thanks to a lot of different resources.
MY THANKS TO ALL WHO VISIT AND COMMENT IT IS APPRECIATED.