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St Mary, Patrixbourne, Kent by Jelltex

I have been to St Mary on at least four previous occasions, but the last of which was some three or so years ago, and as I had revisited the others in the Nailbourne Valley, I thought we would go here too.

Just as well we did, as I saw so many other features and interesting details, and met a nice chap who was on his way to visit friends.

There is the most amazing glass here, and wall paintings, complete with the best rose window outside of Barfrestone.

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A charming village church with a greater number of interesting furnishings than is usual in this part of the county. There are twelfth-century window openings in the chancel, whilst a lavish south doorway tells of an extremely wealthy medieval church. Next to it are the remains of eight mass dials - which must be a record! Inside the south, or Bifrons, chapel is separated from the aisle by a screen and steps and there is a plain hagioscope to the chancel. Many mural tablets catch the eye and tell of the long association with the village of the Conyngham family. However, it is the stained glass which really deserves our attention at Patrixbourne. Set among very basic nineteenth-century glass are many panels of seventeenth-century Swiss origin, including scenes of the Garden of Gethsemane, St Elizabeth of Hungary and the Raising of Lazarus. With the exception of Temple Ewell. this is the largest collection of pictorial Swiss glass in a Kent church. By way of contrast, the north aisle displays an excellent twentieth-century window by G.C. Abbs.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Patrixbourne

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LOCATION: Situated to the west of centre of the (later) village near the Court Lodge, with Bifrons (now demolished) not far to the north-west. The park was immediately beyond the churchyard on the west with its own gate. It is at c. 70ft above OD on Head brickearth (over chalk) with the road and Nailbourne to the south-east.

DESCRIPTION: The coursed whole flints in the west wall of the nave of this church suggest that its earliest fabric may date from the late 11th/early 12th century, though there is no certain evidence for this. A church is mentioned in Domesday Book (1086), so the nave of this church (or the west end of the nave) may well be the early Norman one.

This church is well-known because of its fine late 12th century south doorway under an unusual contemporary south tower-porch. There is also a fine wheel-window in the east gable of the chancel of the same date, as is the chancel arch and other windows in the chancel. The church and particularly the late 12th century features have been discussed and described in various articles (see references below), so will only be briefly described here. As usual, it is Livetts' paper of 1909 (though unfortunately the outside walls were almost completely covered in ivy at that time), and the brief notes of Stuart Rigold (1970) that are most useful for the building history. The various 19th century rebuildings (in c. 1824, 1849 and 1857), however, complicate matters.

As Stuart Rigold suggests, the church was perhaps rebuilt in the 1190s as a cell for the Augustinian canons of Merton Priory, Surrey. The elaborate chancel and the lean-to south aisle, straddled by the tower-porch were both built at about this time, no doubt for the canons (as well as parochial) use. Externally the chancel has been heavily restored with knapped flint and Bathstone, but the general form of all the windows on a string-course must be original, as is the small late 12th century south doorway with scalloped capitals and chevron mouldings. However early 19th century views show the south-east chancel window with 2-lights with trefoiled heads (?13th century), cutting the string-course. There is also a late 13th century piscina below it (and an aumbry) inside the chancel. The simple roof trusses over the chancel are also of later medieval date.

As Livett has ably shown, the tower porch on the south was originally flanked by a contemporary aisle on either side with a shed roof, probably continuing the line of the nave roof. There is external evidence for this at the west end of the aisle, where the lower part of the wall can still be seen to be original. There is also an original west window, and the lower part of a blocked south window (a new two-light window was inserted in the 15th century when the aisle wall was heightened. The heavy knapped flint gable on the west is 19th century. As Livett has also suggested, there was probably a similar aisle on the east side of the tower, but this was completely replaced in the 15th century when the new chapel of ?St John was built.

The tower itself is a fine late-12th century structure with a magnificent monumental decorated south doorway, last restored in 1939, when the flanking brick sloping buttresses were removed, and ties were put in. The upper part of the squat tower has a string-course with, above it, small round belfry windows. There is a later medieval shingled spire on top of it, and a 19th century clock inside (with south clock face). Beneath the tower, there is an original half-round arch into the south-west aisle, and simple pointed arches (?13th century) into the nave and south-east chapel. The chancel arch is also late 12th century but the arcades were replaced by Scott in 1857. A plain late 12th century north doorway to the nave (and the decorated window to the west on it) were reset in the north wall of the c. 1824 north aisle.

The church underwent a major rebuilding in the 15th century when a five-bay crown-post roof was put on the nave, and a 3-light perpendicular window, with its new gable above, was put into the west wall (below it are traces of a filled-up earlier west doorway). Two western buttresses, with plinths, were added, and, as we have seen, the south-west aisle was heightened and given a new 2-light south window with a square hood-mould. The south-east chapel was also rebuilt at this time, but this may be a rebuilding of an earlier rebuilding. The east window of this chapel replaced a simpler perpendicular window with a square hood-mould in the 19th century when the fireplace and chimney flue above (in the gable) were put into the Conyngham `pew'. This chapel has a tomb recess in its south wall, and externally there are two south buttresses and a continuous plinth, but it too has been heavily restored and refaced externally (and given a new roof). There is a squint into the chancel from this chapel, and a reused 12th century niche in the south-east corner.

The fine south door is 17th century (restored in the 19th century).

The north aisle was built in c. 1824 and has triple course of buff-bricks half way up, and reused Caenstone quoins; also cement render around the windows, and some reused windows and doorway (see above). The chancel was restored by Mr Marshall of Canterbury in 1849, when the triple east windows and the south doorway were reopened. (Fine 16th-17th century glass was then put into the windows, and the Conyngham vault was made beneath the chancel. Finally (Sir) Gilbert Scott was brought in, in 1857 to restore the whole church, and he created new arcades in the nave, paid for by the Conynghams. (The screen at the west end of the nave was originally from behind the 19th century high altar - was it first a Rood screen?)

In 1939, the brick buttresses were removed, and metal ties were put into the tower.

BUILDING MATERIALS (Incl. old plaster, paintings, glass, tiles etc.): The west wall has coursed whole flints, and all the late 12th century work is in fine quality Caenstone, with Ragstone quoins being used in the 15th century for quoins, etc.

There are some brick repairs, but much 19th century knapped flintwork with Bathstone dressings. The east quoins of the chancel appear to be of Tunbridge Wells sandstone, as well as the original Caenstone.

EXCEPTIONAL MONUMENTS IN CHURCH: Various Conyngham monuments of the 19th century.

CHURCHYARD AND ENVIRONS:

Size & Shape: Rectangular area to south and west of church with small 19th century extensions to south and west.

Condition: Good

Boundary walls: 19th century iron-railings and low flintwall to road on south east.

Exceptional monuments: Some good 18th century headstones and memorials.

Ecological potential: ? Yes, but mostly now neatly mown. Line of fastigiate yews from south door to iron gate into Bifrons grounds. [It is worth noting that on 19th December 1668 (according to the Registers) the vicar had some Ash trees planted in the churchyard, to replace two very old rotten ash trees.]

HISTORICAL RECORD (where known):

Earliest ref. to church: Doomsday Book, where it is just called Bourne.

Evidence of pre-Norman status (DB, DM, TR etc): Possibly an early Minster church; it had the Chapelry of Bridge attached to it after the Norman Conquest.

Late med. status: Vicarage, appropriated from 1258, with the Chapelry of Bridge attached to it.

Patron: Given by the Lord of the Manor to Beaulieu Priory (near Rouen in Normandy) c. 1190. In c. 1410 it was transferred to Merton Priory in Surrey. After the Dissolution to the crown. Then to the owners of Bifrons.

Other documentary sources: Hasted IX (1800), 284-6. Test. Cant. (E Kent, 1907), 245 mentions lights of Our Lady and the Holy Cross; also the chapel of St John (? that on the south east).

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD

Finds within 0.5km: Pagan Anglo-Saxon cemetery on the higher ground _ mile to the south.

SURVIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPOSITS:

Inside present church: Good.

Outside present church: Good, except ? disturbed on the north by new aisle.

Quinquennial inspection (date/architect): JUNE 1993 A Clague

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT:

The church and churchyard: An important church because of its late 12th century rebuilding with high quality sculpture. It was, however, over-restored in the 19th century (and given a new north aisle in c. 1824). There was a major rebuilding in the 15th century when the nave was rebuilt along with the south east chapel.

The wider context: One of a small group of churches in East Kent showing high quality later 12th century architectural sculpture.

REFERENCES: Note by S Rigold Arch J 126 (1970), 214-5 + plan. Note by G M Livett Arch J 86 (1930), 316-7 + plan. W A Scott Robertson `Patricksbourne Church, and Bifrons' Arch. Cant. 14 (1882), 169-184 (with list of vicars). G M Livett `Architectural notes on Patrixbourne church? Arch. Cant. 28 (1909), 305-310. S R Glynne Notes on the Churches of Kent (1877), 26-7 (He visited before 1849).

Guide book: Recent leaflet (undated and anon) - not very accurate.

Plans and early drawings: Early 19th century view from SE in V+A Museum (nave is covered in ivy). Also Petrie view from SE in 1807 (No Ivy!). Also engravings of Norman doorways in Antiquarian Itinerary, Vol VI.

DATE VISITED: 22nd August 1993 REPORT BY: Tim Tatton-Brown

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/01/03/PAT.htm

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PATRIXBORNE

IS situated the next parish southward from Bekesborne last-described. It is called in Domesday, Borne, which name it took from the bourn or stream which runs through it; and it was afterwards called Patrixborne, to distinguish it from the neighbouring parishes of Borne, situated on the same stream. There are two boroughs in this parish, viz. of Marten, alias Cheney, and of Patrixborne.

The PARISH is pleasantly situated in a fine healthy country; the bourn or stream of the Little Stour runs through this parish, close to it in the valley is the village, with the church, court-lodge, and vicarage near together, the latter a neat genteel habitation; opposite to them is a house called Heart-hall, formerly belonging to the family of Sabine, or Savin, but now to Mr. Taylor, of Bifrons. The upper, or north part of the village, is in the parish of Bekesborne, in which is a house, formerly the residence of the Coppins, now the property of Mr. Milles, of Nackington; and further on, one formerly owned by the Pordages, and afterwards by Mr. Litheridge. Eastward this parish extends up the hill, over the high downs, to within one field of Ileden, and from the village southward, across the Dover road, to a wild hilly country, as far as Whitehill wood, part of which is within this parish. It is well cloathed with trees along the valley, where the soil is fertile, especially towards Hoath, for both hops and corn, but the hill parts round the outskirts, are in general poor chalky land, covered with stones. There is no fair.

AT THE TIME of taking the survey of Domesday, in the year 1084, this parish was chiefly owned by Odo, bishop of Baieux, under the general title of whose lands it is thus described in that survey;

In Brige hundred, Richard, son of William, holds of the bishop, Borne. It was taxed at six sulings. The arable land is eight carucates. In demesne there are three carucates, and forty-four villeins, with three borderers having ten carucates. There is a church, and one servant, and four mills of sixteen shillings and eight pence. A fishery of six-pence. Pasiure, of which the foreign tenants have plougbed six acres of land. Wood for the pannage of four hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth eighteen pounds, when be received it ten pounds, now nineteen pounds.

Four years after the taking of this survey, the bishop was disgraced, and this manor, among the rest of his possessions, escheated to the crown. After which it appears to have been divided into moieties, one of which, called afterwards THE MANOR OF PARTIXBORNE MERTON, was held by Margerie de Bornes, who carried it in marriage to John de Pratellis, or De Pratis, as he was sometimes written, a Norman, who soon after the year 1200, gave it to his new-erected priory of Beaulieu, or De Bello loco, in Normandy, to which it afterwards became an alien cell. (fn. 1) In which state this manor continued till the 11th year of king Henry IV. when it was, with the king's licence, alienated to the priory of the same order of Augustine canons of Merton, in Surry, whence it acquired the name of Patrixborne Merton; and with this priory it remained till the suppression of it by the act of the 31st of king Henry VIII. when this manor coming into the hands of the crown, was granted that year, together with the rectory and advowson of the vicarage of Patrixborne, and all liberties, free-warren, &c. to Sir Thomas Cheney, to hold to him and his heirs male in capite, as of the castle of Rochester. After which, king Edward VI. by new letters patent, in his 4th year, regranted the whole of them, to hold to him and his heirs for ever. He was succeeded in it by his only son Henry Cheney, esq. afterwards lord Cheney; (fn. 2) and he soon afterwards alienated it to Sir Thomas Herbert, who in the 21st year of that reign sold it to Thomas Smith, who passed it away before the end of the same reign to William Partherich, and his grandson Sir Edward Partherich, of Bridge, alienated it in 1638 to Mr. afterwards Sir Arnold Braems, of that parish, the heirs of whose son Walter Braems, sold it in 1704 to John Taylor, esq. of Bifrons, in this parish, in whose descendants it continued down to Edward Taylor, esq.' the present possessor of this manor, with the rectory and advowson of the church of Patrixborne.

The OTHER MOIETY of the manor of Patrixborne, called afterwards THE MANOR OF PATRIXBORNE CHENEY, after the bishop's disgrace, came into the possession of the family of Say, in which it continued till Sir William de Say, in Henry III.'s reign, gave it to Sir Alexander de Cheney. He afterwards resided here, whence it gained the name of Patrixborne Cheney; but his son William having married Margaret, daughter and heir of Sir Robert de Shurland, of Shurland, in Shepey, removed afterwards thither. After which it remained in his descendants down to Sir T. Cheney, K. G. of Shurland, who having obtained from Henry VIII. in his 31st year, a grant of the other moiety of the manor of Patrixborne, as above-mentioned, became possessed of the whole of this manor, which, notwithstanding, continued as two separate manors, in both which he was succeeded by his son Henry Cheney, (afterwards created lord Cheney, of Tuddington) who in the beginning of that reign alienated them to Sir Thomas Herbert. Since which they both remained in the same succession of ownership, as has already been mentioned before, in the description of the manor of Patrixborne Merton, down to Edward Taylor, esq. the present possessor of both these manors; which appear now to be united, as one court only is held for both of them, stiled, the court leet and court baron of the manors of Patrixborne Merton and Cheney.

BIFRONS is a seat in this parish, situated at a small distance westward from the church, which was originally built by Mr. John Bargar, or Bargrave, whose ancestors were originally of the adjcining parish of Bridge. Robert Bargrave, of Bridge, died in 1600, leaving a numerous issue; of whom John, the eldest son, was the builder of Bifrons, and Isaac, the sixth, was dean of Canterbury, and ancestor of Isaac Bargrave, esq. of Eastry, where further mention will be made of him. They bore for their arms, Argent, on a pale, gules, a sword with the point upwards, the pomel, or, on a chief, azure, three bezants. His grandson John Bargrave, esq. sold it in 1662 to Sir Arthur Slingsby, knight and baronet, descended of a younger branch of the Slingsbys, of Scriven, in Yorkshire, and created a baronet at Brussells in 1657; his arms were, Gules, a chevron, between two leopards faces, in chief, and a bugle born, in base, argent. His son and heir Sir Charles Slingsby, bart. in 1677, alienated it to Mr. Thomas Baker, merchant, of London, (fn. 3) on whose death it came to Mr. William Whotton, gent. of London, and he in 1680 passed it away to Thomas Adrian, esq. who kept his shrievalty here in 1690. He alienated it in 1694 to John Taylor, esq. the son of Nathaniel Taylor, barrister at law, descended of a family at Wlitchurch, in Salop, whose arms were, Gules, three roses, argent, a chief chequy, argent and sable. He died in 1729, leaving four sons and four daughters. Of the former, Brook, the eldest, was LL.D. and F. R. S. a learned and ingenious gentleman, who, among other treatises, wrote one on perspective. He died in 1731, leaving an only daughter Elizabeth, married to Sir William Young, bart. Herbert, in holy orders, of whom hereafter; Charles, a merchant at Moscow; and Bridges. Of the daughters, Mary died unmarried, at Bridge-place, in 1771, and Olive married John Bowtell, D. D. vicar of Patrixborne. The eldest son Dr. Brook Taylor succeeded his father in this seat, but dying without male issue in 1731, his next brother the Rev. Herbert Taylor became possessed of it, and resided here. He died in 1763, leaving by Mary, one of the daughters of Edward Wake, clerk, prebendary of Canterbury, and first-cousin to the archbishop, two sons, Herbert and Edward, the eldest of whom succeeded him in this seat, with his other estates in this county, but dying unmarried in 1767, his brother, the Rev. Edward Taylor, succeeded him in it, and afterwards rebuilt, nearly on the old scite, this seat of Bifrons, so called from its double front, and the builder of it, in commendation of his wife, placed this motto on the fore front: Diruta ædificat uxor bona, ædificata diruit mala. It was a handsome spacious house, the front of which had a very grand and venerable appearance. He died in 1798, leaving by Margaret his wife, daughter of Thomas Turner Payler, esq. of Ileden, who died at Brussells in 1780, four sons and three daughters, of whom Edward, the eldest, is a captain in the Romney fencible dragoons; Herbert is a captain likewise in the army, private secretary, and aid de camp to the duke of York; Brook is private secretary to the secretary of state for foreign affairs; and Bridges, the youngest, is a lieutenant in the navy. Of the daughters, the eldest, Mary Elizabeth married Edward-Wilbraham Bootle, esq. M. P. Charlotte married the Rev. Mr. Northey, and Margaret. Edward Taylor, esq. the esdest son, succeeded on his father's death to this seat, and continues owner of it.

HODE, now usually called Hothe, and Hothe-house, in this parish, was antiently part of the possessions of the family of Isaac, who bore for their arms, Sable, a bend, in the sinister point, a leopard's head, or; one of whom, John Isaac, held it in the 20th year of king Edward III. His descendant Edward Isaac had his lands disgavelled by the act of 31 Henry VIII. and his descendant of the same name, at length leaving only three daughters his coheirs, this estate went in marriage by Jane, his only daughter by his first wife, first to Martin Sidley, esq. of Great Chart, and secondly to Sir Henry Palmer, of Howlets, who by his will in 1611, gave it to his son in-law Sir Isaac Sidley, bart. and he conveyed his right in it to his brother-inlaw Sir Henry Palmer, from whose descendant it went by sale to Merriweather, and Edward Merriweather, about the year 1680, alienated it to Thomas Adrian, gent. who conveyed it, with Bifrons and other estates in this parish, in 1694, to John Taylor, esq. in whose descendants it has, in like manner, continued down to Edward Taylor, esq. the present possessor of it.

RENVILLE is a manor, in this parish, which formerly belonged to owners of the name of Crippen, one of whom, Thomas Crippen, died possessed of it in the beginning of king James I.'s reign, leaving an only daughter and heir Joane, who carried it in marriage to Robert Naylor, gent. whose arms were,Argent, on a bend, sable, three covered cups of the field, their rims, or. His son John, about the year 1638, sold it to William Kingley, S. T. P. archdeacon of Canterbury, who left a numerous issue, of whom George, the eldest son, succeeded to this estate, whose only son William died in 1701, leaving William, of whom mention will be made hereafter; and Anthony, who was ancestor of Thomas Pincke Kingsley, gent. now of London. From William Kingsley, esq. the eldest son, this estate came down at length to his grandson lieutenant general William Kingsley, who resided at Maidstone, where he died in 1769 unmarried, and bequeathed this manor by will to his first-cousin Mr. Charles Kingsley, of London, for his life, (fn. 4) on whose death in 1785, it came by the entail of the above will to his second son Mr. Thomas Pincke Kingsley, now of London, who is the present possessor of it.

HIGHAM is another manor, for it was formerly so accounted, though it has long since lost the reputation of having been one, situated at the boundary of this parish, upon the high grounds, at a small distance from the northern side of Barham-downs. It was antiently owned by a family of the same name, one of whom, Nicholas, son of William de Higham, by a deed of the 13th year of king Edward III. to which his seal is appendant, viz. a lion passant regardant, between six crosses formee, fitchee, appears to have held it at that time, together with the manor of Northington, in the hundred of Downhamford, not far distant. Not long after which it passed into the name of Bourne, and afterwards of Haut, of the adjoining parish of Bishopsborne, in which it remained till at length Elizabeth, daughter and coheir of Sir William Haut, of Bishopsborne, carried it in marriage to Thomas Colepeper, esq. of Bedgbury, and he, in the 34th year of king Henry VIII. alienated it to Sir Anthony Aucher, in whose descendants it continued down to Sir Hewit Aucher, bart. who dying in 1726, s. p. by his will gave it to his sister Elizabeth, who entitled her husband John Corbet, LL. D. of Salop, to the possession of it. He left five daughters his coheirs, viz. Katherine, married to Stephen Beckingham; Elizabeth to Thomas Denward; Frances, to Sir William Hardres, bart. Antonina, to Ignatius Geohagan; and Hannah, to William Hougham, who became on his death jointly entitled to it. After which, Ignatius Geohagan, esq. before-mentioned, about the year 1768, built the present seat, called HIGHAM PLACE, and resided in it for some time, and then alienated his fifth part of it, as did the heirs of Katherine, Elizabeth, and Hannah, who were before deceased, their respective fifth parts, about 1781, to James Hallet, esq. who now resides in it, and has since purchased the remaining fifth part of the heirs of Frances, widow of Sir William Hardres, bart. who died in 1783. (fn. 5)

Charities.

SIR HENRY PALMER, of Bekesborne, by will in 1611, gave the sum of 10s. to be yearly paid out of his manor of Well-court, towards the relief of the poor of this parish, and he left the like som towards the relief of the poor of several of the neighbouring parishes, none of which has ever been paid to them.

The poor constantly maintained are about eight, casually 12.

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.

The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, consists of one middle and two smaller side isles, a high and a south chancel, having a spire steeple on the south side, in which there is only one bell. This church is but small. It seems very antient. The pillars in it are very large and clumsy, and the arches circular. In the middle isle are several memorials of the Dennes, of this parish. The south chancel, formerly called the Isaac, but now the Bifrons chancel, as belonging to that seat, is covered with pews. In it are monuments for the Taylors, of Bifrons. At the entrance a memorial for John Bargrave, builder of Bifrons. In the north isle, in a window, are the arms of Fogge. Under the steeple, on the south side, is a fine arched doorway, circular, ornamented with much carvework and emblematical figures of Saxon architecture, much like that at Barfriston, (of which a plate is given in Grose's Antiquities, vol. i. præf. p. 66); and a smaller one on the south side of the high chancel, of a similar sort, over which is a small stone figure, having on its head, seemingly, a crown, and head-dress on each side hanging down, with its hands listed up as if having had something between them, perhaps for the virgin and child; but it is so corroded by time, that what it was meant for, can only be guessed at. At the east end of the chancel is a small circular window, of different compartments, like that at Bartriston. In the west part of the church-yard, are tombs for James De Roussell, esq. a truly good and worthy man, obt. 1775, and Elizabeth his wife; and for John Bowtell, D. D. vicar of Patrixborne, and Olive his wife; and one for Mrs. Mary Taylor, who died in 1771.

The church of Patrixborne, with the chapel of Bridge annexed, was given and appropriated to the priory of Merton, in Surry, as early as the year 1258, anno 43 Henry III. on condition that three canons should reside, for the performance of all parochial duties; and if the profits increased, more should be sent for that purpose. (fn. 6) In which state this church continued till the dissolution of the priory, by the act of the 31st year of king Henry VIII. when it came, together with the manor of Patrixborne Merton, belonging to the priory, into the king's hands, who granted both that year to Sir Thomas Cheney. Since which they have passed, in the same tract of ownership as has been already related before, in the description of that manor, down to Edward Taylor, esq. the present owner of the appropriation and advowson of the vicarage of this church, with the chapel of Bridge annexed.

¶It is, with the chapel of Bridge, valued in the king's books at 5l. 7s. 3½d. and the yearly tenths at 10s. 8¾d. In 1578 here were thirty-nine communicants. In 1640 it was valued at fixty pounds, communicants fifty.

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp277-286

St Mary the Virgin, Bishopsbourne, Kent by Jelltex

1

I thought I had visited St Mary years ago. And indeed I had, or stood on the green in front of it, but didn't set foot inside.

This I didn't realise until Saturday when I was standing outside it looking at the row of cottages leading to the lych gate, I knew the scene was new to me.

The drizzle was still falling, so I could not linger in the churchyard, and scampered along the south side of the building, looking for the porch, but there wasn't one. Instead a simple door near to the chancel gave way when I turned the handle, after stepping over the void that acts as a drain for rainwater falling from the roof.

I tried hard to find the lightswitches, as in the gloom of the early afternoon, it was almost dark inside. Even when I found the switches in the south chapel, there seemed to be no power to them, so the church remained in half darkness.

What I did see, and was dazzled by, were tiles used to line the lower part of the chancel walls, like a mosaic, creating fantastic patterns.

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A mainly thirteenth century church restored by Sir George Gilbert Scott. There is a high window which originally shed light onto the Rood figures (see also Capel le Ferne). Some medieval glass survives in the heads of the windows in the chancel showing angels holding crowns. The west window was designed by Morris and Co in 1874 to commemorate a former Rector, whilst the south chapel has a set of continental glass brought here by the Beckingham family from their house in Essex. Above the nave arcade is a good set of murals including a figure of St Nicholas. The famous Elizabethan theologian Richard Hooker is commemorated in the chancel.

www.kentchurches.info/church.asp?p=Bishopsbourne

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Bishopsbourne is another example of a parish church belonging to the church (the archbishop, in this case), which was totally rebuilt on a large(r) scale in the 13th century (cf. Chartham). The chancel, as rebuilt, was as wide as the nave, and there is no chancel arch (and probably never has been).

The nave and chancel both show at least two phases of work of about the mid to later 13th century, so it seems likely that a rebuilding programme was being carried on in stages during the 2nd half of the 13th century (no sign exists, above-ground, of the earlier church).

Perhaps the earliest visible work are the two pairs of two-light windows on either side of the chancel. They have geometrical tracery and all sit on an internal moulded string course (there is medieval glass at the top of all these windows). This string course rises up in the east wall, and has on it the five-light east window, within trefoiled lancets, which is perhaps slightly later in date. There is also a late 13th century piscina at the east end of the south wall (though with a 19th century back wall). Externally the N.E. and S.E. corners of the chancel have angle buttresses, but these are heavily restored. It is also just possible that there were further geometrical windows further west in the chancel, which were covered/removed when the 15th century additions were made.

In the nave, as John Newman has pointed out, the two slender arcades have slight differences (N. capitals more complex than the S. ones). Also that the nave abaci are undercut, while the chancel string course is not. Originally the south arcade was at least three bays long (ie. longer than the present nave), but on the north this is not so clear. The aisles themselves are very narrow, with shed roofs continuing the slope of the main nave roof (though this shape may only be 15th century when the aisles were remodelled). The only surviving feature of the 13th century in the outer aisle walls (again heavily restored externally in the 19th century) is the north doorway with its niche (called a stoup by some writers, but not necessarily one) immediately to the east. This doorway has slightly projecting pilasters on either side, and the whole was covered by a porch until 1837.

The second main phase of work took place in the later 15th century. First, the whole of the west end of the church was demolished and a new tower was constructed with diagonal buttresses. The tower is of three main stages with the top stage rendered. The whole of the south face is mostly rendered. As this was being built, short walls were erected from the eastern diagonal buttresses to the 13th century arcade (ie. leaving the western ends of the aisles outside). (This is perhaps due to a population decrease in the parish). New west walls (containing two light perpendicular square headed windows) to the shortened aisles were also built, and four new 2-light perpendicular windows were inserted into the outer aisle walls. Along the top of the inside of the aisles walls a new moulded timber stringcourse was made (the roofs were perhaps also remade, but they are hidden beneath plaster in the aisles, and the main nave roof was replaced in 1871). At the west end of the nave the new short north and south walls contain five 3-light windows with perpendicular tracery under a 2-centred arch in their heads. On the upper nave walls, above the arcade, are remains of some fine painted figures on a painted 'ashlar' background. These were perhaps painted after the 15th century rebuilding (a date of around 1462 for the rebuilding is perhaps suggested by the will of William Harte (see below). At the extreme west end of the nave are two areas (N. and S.) of in situ medieval floor tiles. It is just possible that they predate the tower building work. (They must continue eastwards under the pews). There is also a 15th cent. octagonal font bowl (on a 1975 base). The southern chapel (the Bourne Pew after the Reformation) with its diagonal buttresses and 3-light east window is also 15th century but it was very heavily restored in c. 1853 (date over new S. door). It has a separate roof (and plaster ceiling). The rectangular N. addition with a plinth is also 15th century and was perhaps built as a vestry. It had an external door and only a small door into the chancel until the rebuilding of 1865, when a massive new arch was put in to accommodate a new organ (earlier the organ was under the tower arch). At this time also a totally new pitched roof was built over the vestry, perhaps replacing a low pitched 15th century roof. There is a high up window on the north side above the pulpit, with some old glass in it.

A new boiler house was dug under the western half of the vestry (in the 1880s - date on radiator), and its N.W. corner was rebuilt, incorporating a fireplace and chimney. The cut through N. chancel wall (and foundation) can be seen in the boiler room below.

The door into the Rood loft is in the S.E. corner of the nave.

In 1871-2 a major restoration took place under Scott, when the boarded wagon roofs were put in (nave and chancel) and new pews were installed (and choir stalls). The c. 18th century pulpit was remodelled and has its larger tester removed. The west window contains 1874 Morris & Co glass with figures by Burne Jones. There is also much c. 1877 mosaic work on the lower chancel walls and a large Reredos. The chancel floor was also raised.

BUILDING MATERIALS (Incl. old plaster, paintings, glass, tiles, etc.):

The main building materials are flintwork with Rag and Caenstone quoins/jambs, etc. However much of this has been removed externally by the heavy 19th century restoration. The nave arcades are of Reigate stone. The 15th century tower has fine large quoins of Kent Rag (Hythe/Folkestone stone with boring mollusc holes), and a few reused pieces of Caen, Reigate and Roman brick.

The south chapel was "partly of brick" in 1846 (Glynne) but this has now gone in the Restoration. There is also some fine early post-medieval glass in the east window of this chapel.

(For medieval glass, wall paintings and floor tiles ,see above).

(Also 15th century choir stalls, see below). There are also the arms and Cardinals Cap of Cardinal Morton (hence 1494-1500) in the S.W. chancel window.

There are now 4 bells (2 J Hatch of 1618; Christopher Hodson 1685 and Robert Mot 1597). The later from St. Mary, Bredman, Canterbury was installed in 1975 (a cracked bell was 'discarded').

A late medieval brass (of John and Elizabeth Colwell) lies under the organ - another of 1617 (John Gibon) is under the choir stalls.

EXCEPTIONAL MONUMENTS IN CHURCH To Richard Hooker (1633) - originally on N chancel wall and moved to S chancel will c. 1865.

Also John Cockman (+1734) - also on N. chancel wall and moved to E. wall of N. aisle c. 1865 (when the organ was put under new vestry arch).

Also a fine Purbeck marble (14th century) grave slab under the N.E. corner of the tower.

There are also two fine 15th century (c. 1462) stall fronts in the chancel with carved panels and ends (and 'poppy heads'). The added Victorian choir stalls copy them.

CHURCHYARD AND ENVIRONS:

Shape: Rectangular

Condition: Good

Earthworks:

enclosing: drop on N. and W. sides (?Ha-Ha) into Bourne Park adjacent:

Building in churchyard or on boundary: Lychgate of 1911

HISTORICAL RECORD (where known):

Earliest ref. to church: Domesday Book

Evidence of pre-Norman status (DB, DM, TR etc.):

Late med. status: Rectory

Patron: The Archbishop

Other documentary sources: Test. Cant. (E. Kent 1907) 23 mentions 'one piece of that stone on which the Archangel Gabriel descended when he saluted the 'BVM' to the Image of the BVM of the church of Bourne. Towards the work of the Church of Bourne, of the stalls and other reparations, 4 marcs. Wm. Haute (1462). Also 'Beam, now before altar of B. Mary in the church' (1477) and Lights of St. Mary, St. Katherine and St. Nicholas (1484) and light of Holy Cross (1462) and 'The altar of St. Mary and St. Nicholas in the nave' (1476).

SURVIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DEPOSITS:

Inside present church: Good - main nave and chancel floor raised in 19th century (earlier levels should be intact beneath (except where burials, etc.).

Outside present church: Drainage trench cut round outside of church.

Quinquennial inspection (date\architect): October 1987 David Martin

ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL ASSESSMENT:

The church and churchyard: A fine 13th and 15th century church, with an impressive collection of medieval wall paintings, stained glass, floor tiles and pew fronts inside. The 13th century architectural details of the chancel windows and nave arcade are very good. There are, no doubt, the remains of the earlier church beneath.

The wider context: One of a group of fine later 13th century rebuildings (cf. Hythe, Chartham, Adisham, etc.)

REFERENCES: Notes by FC Elliston Erwood, Arch. Cant. 62 (1949), 101-3 (+ plan) + S. R. Glynne Notes on the Churches of Kent (1877), 130-1 (He visited in 1846); Hasted IX (1800), 335-7; Newman BOE (N.E. and E Kent) (3rd ed. 1983) 144-5.

Guide book: by Miss Alice Castle (1931, rev. 1961, 1969, 1980) - no plan.

Plans & drawings: Early 19th century engraving of interior looking W. NW (before restoration).

DATES VISITED: 25th November 1991 REPORT BY: Tim Tatton-Brown

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/01/03/BIS.htm

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BISHOPSBORNE

LIES the next parish eastward from Bridge, described before, in the hundred of that name. It is called in Domesday, Burnes, that is, borne, from the bourn or stream which rises in it, being the head of the river, called the Lesser Stour; and it had the name of Bishopsborne from its belonging to the archbishop, and to distinguish it from the several other parishes of the same name in this neighbourhood. There is but one borough in this parish, namely, that of Bourne.

THIS PARISH lies about five miles eastward from Canterbury, just beyond Bridge, about half a mile from the Dover road, and the entrance of Barham downs in the valley on the left hand, where the church and village, the parsonage, the mansion and grounds of Bourne place, and the seat of Charlton at the opposite boundary, with the high hills behind them, topped with woods, from a most pleasing and luxuriant prospect indeed. In this beautiful valley, in which the Lesser Stour rises, and through which the Nailbourne at times runs, is the village of Bourne-street, consisting of about fifteen houses, and near it the small seat of Ofwalds, belonging to Mr. Beckingham, and now inhabited by his brother the Rev. Mr. Beckingham, and near it the church and court-lodge. On the rise of the hill is the parsonage, an antient building modernized, and much improved by the present rector Dr. Fowell, and from its whiteness a conspicuous object to the road and Barham downs. About a mile distant eastward, in the vale, close to the foot of the hills, is Charlton, in a low and damp situation, especially when the nailbourne runs. On the opposite side of the church westward, stands the ornament of this parish, the noble mansion of Bourne-place, (for several years inhabited by Sir Horace Mann, bart. but now by William Harrison, esq.) with its paddocks, grounds, and plantations, reaching up to the downs, having the bourn, which is the source of the Lesser Stour, which rises here in the front of it, directing its course from hence to Bridge, and so on by Littleborne, Ickham and Wickham, till it joins the Greater Stour river. This valley from this source of the bourn upwards, is dry, except after great rains, or thaws of snow, when the springs of the Nailbourn occasionally over flow at Liminge and Elham, and directing their course through this parish descend into the head of the bourn, and blend their waters with it. From this valley southward the opposite hills rise pretty high to the woodland, called Gosley wood, belonging to Mr. Beckingham, of large extent, and over a poor, barren and stony country, with rough healthy ground interspersed among it, to the valley at the southern boundary of the parish, adjoining to Hardres; near which is the house of Bursted, in a lonely unfrequented situations, hardly known to any one.

THE MANOR OF BOURNE, otherwise Bishopsborne, was given by one Aldhun, a man of some eminence in Canterbury, from his office of præfect, or bailiff of that city, (qui in hac regali villa bujus civitatis prafectus suit), (fn. 1) to the monks of Christ-church there, towards the support of their refectory. After which, anno 811, the monks exchanged it, among other estates, with archbishop Wlfred, for the manor of Eastry, and it continued part of the possessions of the see of Canterbury, at the time of taking the survey of Domesday, in which it is thus entered, under the title of the archbishop's lands:

In Berham hundred, the archbishop himself holds Burnes in demesne. It was taxed for six sulings. The arable land is fifty carucates. In demesne there are five carucates, and sixty-four villeins, with fifty-three borderers having thirty carucates and an half. There is a church, and two mills of eight shillings and six pence, and twenty acres of meadow. Wood for the pannage of fifteen hogs. Of herbage twenty-seven pence. In its whole value, in the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards, it was worth twenty pounds, now thirty pounds.

The manor of Bishopsborne appears by the above entry to have been at that time in the archbishop's own hands, and it probably continued so as long as it remained part of his revenues, which was till the 35th year of king Henry VIII. when archbishop Cranmer, by an act specially passed for the purpose, exchanged this manor with the park, grounds and soil of the archbishop in this parish, called Langham park, with Thomas Colepeper, sen. esq. of Bedgbury, who that year alienated it to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Otterden, who gave this manor, with the rest of his possessions in this parish, to his second son Edward. Since which it has continued in the same line of ownership as Bourne-place, as will be more particularly mentioned hereafter, down to Stephen Beckingham, esq. the present owner of it. A court leet and court baron is held for this manor.

BOURNE-PLACE, formerly called the manor of Hautsbourne, is an eminent seat in this parish, for the manor has from unity of possession been for many years merged in the paramount manor of Bishopsborne. It was in very early times possessed by a family who took their name from it. Godric de Burnes is mentioned in the very beginning of the survey of Domesday, as the possessor of lands in it. John de Bourne had a grant of free-warren and other liberties for his lands in Bourne and Higham in the 16th year of king Edward I. He left an only daughter Helen, who carried this estate in marriage to John de Shelving, of Shelvingborne, whose grandson, of the same name, died anno 4 Edward III. at which time this manor had acquired from them the name of Shelvington. He left an only daughter and heir Benedicta, who carried it in marriage to Sir Edmund de Haut, of Petham, whose son Nicholas Haut gave to William, his youngest son, this estate of Bishopsborne, where he afterwards resided, and died in 1462, having been knight of the shire and sheriff of this county. From him it descended down to Sir William Haut, of Hautsborne, sheriff in the 16th and 29th year of king Henry VIII. whose son Edmund dying unmarried in his life-time, his two daughters, Elizabeth, married to Thomas Colepeper, esq. of Bedgbury, and Jane, to Sir Thomas Wyatt, of Allington-castle, became his coheirs, and on the division of their estates, this of Hautsborne was allotted to the former, and her hus band Thomas Colepeper, in her right, became possessed of it, and having acquired the manor of Bishopsborne by exchange from the archbishop, anno 35 Henry VIII. immediately afterwards passed away both that and Hautsborne to Sir Anthony Aucher, of Otterden, whose family derived their origin from Ealcher, or Aucher, the first earl of Kent, who had the title of duke likewise, from his being intrusted with the military power of the county. He is eminent in history for his bravery against the Danes, in the year 853. They first settled at Newenden, where more of the early account of them may be seen. He at his death gave them to his second son Edward, who afterwards resided here at Shelvington, alias Hautsborne, as it was then called, whose great-grandson Sir Anthony Aucher was created a baronet in 1666, and resided here. He left surviving two sons Anthony and Hewitt, and two daughters, Elizabeth, afterwards married to John Corbett, esq. of Salop, LL. D. and Hester, to the Rev. Ralph Blomer, D. D. prebendary of Canterbury. He died in 1692, and was succeeded by his eldest son, who dying under age and unmarried, Hewitt his brother succeeded him in title and estate, but he dying likewise unmarried about the year 1726, the title became extinct, but his estates devolved by his will to his elder sister Elizabeth, who entitled her husband Dr. Corbett afterwards to them, and he died possessed of the manor of Bishopsborne, with this seat, which seems then to have been usually called Bourneplace, in 1736, leaving his five daughters his coheirs, viz. Katherine, afterwards married to Stephen Beckingham, esq. Elizabeth, to the Rev. Thomas Denward; Frances, to Sir William Hardres, bart. Antonina, to Ignat. Geohegan, esq. and Margaret-Hannah-Roberta, to William Hougham, esq. of Canterbury, the four latter of whom, with their respective husbands, in 1752, jointed in the sale of their shares in this estate to Stephen Beckingham, esq. above-men tioned, who then became possessed of the whole of it. He married first the daughter of Mr. Cox, by whom he had the present Stephen beckingham, esq. who married Mary, daughter of the late John Sawbridge, esq. of Ollantigh, deceased, by whom he had an only daughter, who married John-George Montague, esq. eldest son of John, lord viscount Hinchingbrooke, since deceased. By his second wife Catherine, daughter of Dr. John Corbet, he had two daughters, Charlotte and Catherine, both married, one to Mr. Dillon and the other to Mr. Gregory; and a son John Charles, in holy orders, and now rector of Upper Hardres. They bear for their arms, Argent, a sess, crenelle, between three escallop shells, sable. He died in 1756, and his son Stephen Beckingham, esq. above-mentioned, now of Hampton-court, is the present owner of the manor of Bishopsborne, and the mansion of Bourneplace.

BURSTED is a manor, in the southern part of this parish, obscurely situated in an unfrequented valley, among the woods, next to Hardres. It is in antient deeds written Burghsted, and was formerly the property of a family of the same name, in which it remained till it was at length sold to one of the family of Denne, of Dennehill, in Kingston, and it continued so till Thomas Denne, esq. of that place, in Henry VIII.'s reign, gave it to his son William, whose grandson William, son of Vincent Denne, LL. D. died possessed of it in 1640, and from him it descended down to Mr. Thomas Denne, gent. of Monkton-court, in the Isle of Thanet, who died not many years since, and his widow Mrs. Elizabeth Denne, of Monktoncourt, is the present possessor of it.

CHARLTON is a seat, in the eastern part of this parish, which was formerly the estate of a family named Herring, in which it continued till William Herring, anno 3 James I. conveyed it to John Gibbon, gent. the third son of Thomas Gibbon, of Frid, in Bethers den, descended again from those of Rolvenden, and he resided here, and died possessed of it in 1617, as did his son William in 1632, whose heirs passed it away to Sir Anthony Aucher, bart. whose son Sir Hewitt Aucher, bart. in 1726, gave it by will to his sister Elizabeth, and she afterwards carried it in marriage to John Corbett, LL. D. of Salop, who died possessed of it in 1735, leaving his window surviving, after whose death in 1764 it came to her five daughters and coheirs, who, excepting Frances, married to Sir William Hardres, bart. joined with their husbands in the sale of their respective fifth parts of it in 1765, to Francis Hender Foote, clerk, who resided here. Mr. Foote was first a barrister-at-law, and then took orders. He married Catherine, third daughter of Robert Mann, esq. of Linton, by whom he had three sons, John, mentioned below, who is married and has issue; Robert, rector of Boughton Malherb, and vicar of Linton, who married Anne, daughter of Dobbins Yate, esq. of Gloucestershire, and Edward, in the royal navy; and three daughters, of whom two died unmarried, and Catherine, the second, married first Mr. Ross, and secondly Sir Robert Herries, banker, of London. Mr. Foote died possessed of them in 1773, leaving his wife Catherine surviving, who possessed them at her death in 1776, on which they descended to their eldest son John Foote, esq. of Charlton, who in 1784, purchased of the heirs of lady Hardres, deceased, the remaining fifth part, and so became possessed of the whole of it, of which he is the present owner, but Mr. Turner now resides in it.

Charities.

MRS. ELIZABETH CORBETT, window, executrix of Sir Hewit Aucher, bart. deceased, in 1749, made over to trustees, for the use and benefit of the poor, a tenement called Bonnetts, and half an acre of land adjoining, in this parish; now occupied by two poor persons, but if rented, of the annual value of 3l.

The poor constantly relieved are about eleven, casually seven.

THIS PARISH is within the ECCLESIASTICAL JURISDICTION of the diocese of Canterbury, and deanry of Bridge.

¶The church, which is dedicated to St. Mary, is a large building, consisting of three isles and three chancels, having a tower steeple at the west end, in which are four bells. This church is a large handsome building, but it is not kept so comely as it ought to be. In the chancel is a monument for Richard Hooker, rector of this parish, who died in 1600; on it is his bust, in his black gown and square cap. A monument for John Cockman, M. D. of Charlton. His widow lies in the vault by him, obt. 1739; arms, Argent, three cocks, gules, impaling Dyke. Memorial for Petronell, wife of Dr. John Fowell, the present rector, second daughter of William Chilwich, esq. of Devonshire, obt. 1766. She lies buried in a vault under the altar. A large stone, twelve feet long, supposed to be over the remains of Mr. Richard Hooker. A memorial on brass for John Gibbon, gent. of this parish, obt. 1617; arms, Gibbon, a lion rampant-guardant, between three escallops, impaling Hamon, of Acrise, quartering Cossington. Memorials for Mrs. Jane Gibbon, his wife, obt. 1625, and for William Gibbon, gent. obt. 1632. A memorial for William Gresham, obt. 1718. In one of the windows are the arms of the see of Canterbury impaling Warham. In the middle isle, in the south wall, above the capital of the pillar, opposite the pulpit, is a recess, in which once stood the image of the Virgin Mary, the patron saint of this church, to which William Hawte, esq. by will anno 1462, among the rest of his relics, gave a piece of the stone on which the archangel Gabriel descended, when he saluted her, for this image to rest its feet upon. On the pavement near this, seemingly over a vault, is a stone with an inscription in brass, for William, eldest son of Sir William Hawt. A memorial for Farnham Aldersey, gent. of this parish, only son of Farnham Aldersey, gent. of Maidstone, obt. 1733. Memorials for several of the Dennes, of this parish. In a window of the south isle, are the arms of Haut, impaling Argent, a lion rampant-guardant, azure. The south chancel is inclosed and made into a handsome pew for the family of Bourne-place, under which is a vault appropriated to them. The window of it eastward is a very handsome one, mostly of modern painted glass; the middle parts filled up with scripture history, and the surrounding compartments with the arms and different marriages impaled of the family of Beckingham. On each side of this window are two ranges of small octagon tablets of black marble, intended for the family of Aucher, and their marriages, but they were not continued. In the church-yard, on the south side, is a vault for the family of Foote, of Charlton, and a tomb for Mrs. Elizabeth Corbett, obt. 1764; arms, Corbett, which were Or, two ravens, sable, within a bordure, gules, bezantee. At the north-east corner of the church-porch are several tombs for the Dennes.

The church of Bishopsborne, with the chapel of Barham annexed, was antiently appendant to the manor, and continued so till the exchange made between the archbishop and Thomas Colepeper, in the 35th year of king Henry VIII. out of which the advowson of this rectory was excepted. Since which it has continued parcel of the possessions of the see of Canterbury to the present time, his grace the archbishop being the present patron of it.

This rectory, (including the chapel of Barham annexed to it) is valued in the king's books at 39l. 19s. 2d. and the yearly tenths at 3l. 19s. 11d. In 1588 here were communicants one hundred. In 1640 one hundred and forty-eight, and it was valued, with Barham, at two hundred and fifty pounds per annum.

Church of Bishopsborne with the Chapel of Barhan annexed.

www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-kent/vol9/pp328-337

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Richard Hooker (March 1554 – 3 November 1600) was an English priest in the Church of England and an influential theologian.[2] He was one of the most important English theologians of the sixteenth century.[3] His defence of the role of redeemed reason informed the theology of the seventeenth century Caroline Divines and later provided many members of the Church of England with a theological method which combined the claims of revelation, reason and tradition.[3] Scholars disagree regarding Hooker's relationship with what would later be called "Anglicanism" and the Reformed theological tradition. Traditionally, he has been regarded as the originator of the Anglican via media between Protestantism and Catholicism.[4]:1 However, a growing number of scholars have argued that he should be considered as being in the mainstream Reformed theology of his time and that he only sought to oppose the extremists (Puritans), rather than moving the Church of England away from Protestantism.

This sermon from 1585 was one of those that triggered Travers attack and appeal to the Privy Council. Travers accused Hooker of preaching doctrine favourable to the Church of Rome when in fact he had just described their differences emphasising that Rome attributed to works "a power of satisfying God for sin;..." For Hooker, works were a necessary expression of thanksgiving for unmerited justification by a merciful God.[11] Hooker defended his belief in the doctrine of Justification by faith, but argued that even those who did not understand or accept this could be saved by God.

Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie is Hooker's best-known work, with the first four books being published in 1594. The fifth was published in 1597, while the final three were published posthumously,[2] and indeed may not all be his own work. Structurally, the work is a carefully worked out reply to the general principles of Puritanism as found in The Admonition and Thomas Cartwright's follow-up writings, more specifically:

Scripture alone is the rule that should govern all human conduct;

Scripture prescribes an unalterable form of Church government;

The English Church is corrupted by Roman Catholic orders, rites, etc.;

The law is corrupt in not allowing lay elders;

'There ought not to be in the Church Bishops'.[12]

Of the Lawes has been characterised as "probably the first great work of philosophy and theology to be written in English."[13] The book is far more than a negative rebuttal of the puritan claims: it is (here McAdoo quotes John S. Marshall) 'a continuous and coherent whole presenting a philosophy and theology congenial to the Anglican Book of Common Prayer and the traditional aspects of the Elizabethan Settlement."[14]

Quoting C. S. Lewis,[15] Stephen Neill underlines its positive side in the following terms: Hitherto, in England, "controversy had involved only tactics; Hooker added strategy. Long before the close fighting in Book III begins, the puritan position has been rendered desperate by the great flanking movements in Books I and II. . . . Thus the refutation of the enemy comes in the end to seem a very small thing, a by-product."[16]

It is a massive work that deals mainly with the proper governance of the churches ("polity"). The Puritans advocated the demotion of clergy and ecclesiasticism. Hooker attempted to work out which methods of organising churches are best.[2] What was at stake behind the theology was the position of the Queen Elizabeth I as the Supreme Governor of the Church. If doctrine were not to be settled by authorities, and if Martin Luther's argument for the priesthood of all believers were to be followed to its extreme with government by the Elect, then having the monarch as the governor of the church was intolerable. On the other side, if the monarch were appointed by God to be the governor of the church, then local parishes going their own ways on doctrine were similarly intolerable.

In political philosophy, Hooker is best remembered for his account of law and the origins of government in Book One of the Politie. Drawing heavily on the legal thought of Thomas Aquinas, Hooker distinguishes seven forms of law: eternal law ("that which God hath eternally purposed himself in all his works to observe"), celestial law (God's law for the angels), nature's law (that part of God's eternal law that governs natural objects), the law of reason (dictates of Right Reason that normatively govern human conduct), human positive law (rules made by human lawmakers for the ordering of a civil society), divine law (rules laid down by God that can only be known by special revelation), and ecclesiastical law (rules for the governance of a church). Like Aristotle, whom he frequently quotes, Hooker believes that humans are naturally inclined to live in society. Governments, he claims, are based on both this natural social instinct and on the express or implied consent of the governed.

The Laws is remembered not only for its stature as a monumental work of Anglican thought, but also for its influence in the development of theology, political theory, and English prose.

Hooker worked largely from Thomas Aquinas, but he adapted scholastic thought in a latitudinarian manner. He argued that church organisation, like political organisation, is one of the "things indifferent" to God. He wrote that minor doctrinal issues were not issues that damned or saved the soul, but rather frameworks surrounding the moral and religious life of the believer. He contended there were good monarchies and bad ones, good democracies and bad ones, and good church hierarchies and bad ones: what mattered was the piety of the people. At the same time, Hooker argued that authority was commanded by the Bible and by the traditions of the early church, but authority was something that had to be based on piety and reason rather than automatic investiture. This was because authority had to be obeyed even if it were wrong and needed to be remedied by right reason and the Holy Spirit. Notably, Hooker affirmed that the power and propriety of bishops need not be in every case absolute.

King James I is quoted by Izaak Walton, Hooker's biographer, as saying, "I observe there is in Mr. Hooker no affected language; but a grave, comprehensive, clear manifestation of reason, and that backed with the authority of the Scriptures, the fathers and schoolmen, and with all law both sacred and civil."[17] Hooker's emphasis on Scripture, reason, and tradition considerably influenced the development of Anglicanism, as well as many political philosophers, including John Locke.[2] Locke quotes Hooker numerous times in the Second Treatise of Civil Government and was greatly influenced by Hooker's natural-law ethics and his staunch defence of human reason. As Frederick Copleston notes, Hooker's moderation and civil style of argument were remarkable in the religious atmosphere of his time.[18] In the Church of England he is celebrated with a Lesser Festival on 3 November and the same day is also observed in the Calendars of other parts of the Anglican Communion.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Hooker