BADLESMERE -
The Church of St. Leonard
St. Leonard's, Badlesmere, Kent from the Southwest
© P.E. Blanche 2001



View of the Chancel from
the Nave
© PE Blanche 2001
The Double Decker Pulpit
© PE Blanche 1999

On first impressions this is an odd looking Church. It's located at the end of a very long country road in the area to the South of Faversham which ends in a farm yard with the Church practically forming part of the farm buildings. There is no visible flint in the construction which is very unusual for a Church in this part of Kent. It is made of blocks of stone which have been rendered and are repaired in places and patched in others. The tower is extremely narrow and the small wooden bell chamber looks a little "rickety". Despite the looks it really is the beginning of the wonder of this Church because in this bell chamber resides a single bell which came from the old Church at Reculver when it was demolished in 1830. The bell bears the date of 1635 and was made by Joseph Hatch, a bell-founder who lived at Ulcombe, near Maidstone. Originally, this bell was one of a set of three but the other two had to be sold to repair the Church Fabric over the years.

Entering through the very dark entry underneath the Tower, there is a notice to advise that the Church supports a very worthy cause in that it is the home to a colony of pipistrelle bats (as is Stockbury Church not too far to the West). Passing through the rear door of the Tower, the inside of the Church is an absolute delight! The exterior rather belies the treasures within. Here is one of the few churches that seemingly the Victorians did not tamper with too badly. Here are still high box pews and joy of joys, a rare double decker pulpit which must have been a steep climb to the summit for any elderly Vicar of this Parish.

The present building (assuming that there might have been an earlier church on this site) dates from the 13th Century and the beautifully slender king posts date from the 14th Century. There was once a Chancel arch but this has obviously been removed and practically no trace remains. At one time, there was a Chapel on the South side of the Church which Hasted records as holding several tombs of members of the Badlesmere Family. There is a blocked entrance still on the South side of the Church which can be seen in the picture at the top of this page and this is now used as the Vestry.

Town and Village Index - "B"
site index | text index