At one time Bethersden was an important centre of the wool trade and gave its name to a form of local marble which is actually a fossilised limestone. It seems that although this local stone has been used at Canterbury and Rochester Cathedrals, it is not actually a true marble but can be polished to look very much like it. The quarry for this stone is actually located at the hamlet of Tuesnoad. Apparently, the only place that this stone is used in St. Margaret's Church is in one of the porches. It was, however, placed in slabs across the countryside to ease the path of packhorses that carried wool that was used in the weaving trade.

The Church stands on a hill on the North side of the Village and must have tremedous views from the top of its tower which was constructed in the early part of the 15th Century. There are some unusual graves in the churchyard which are known by the less than comforting name of oven-graves consisting of three graves within a large mound. I have not had the chance to see inside the Church as yet but hopefully I will add additional pictures of the interior at a later date.

For genealogists it should be noted that Bethersden have never relinquished their parish records. Obviously Bishop's Transcripts are available but this, as we know, only tells part of the story. I am therefore assuming, although my assumption is not based on experience, that there would not be many Bethersden entries in places like the "IGI".
(Subsequent to updating this page in October, 2000, I understand that the Parish has provided its original records to Canterbury Cathedral Archives and they are to be copied and placed on microfilm. However, the process is time consuming and with other records aleady being filmed, it is expected that these records will be avilable to the general public until some time in the Spring of 2001).

[Thanks to Judy Hopkins for the picture]