KENT RESOURCES: St. Leonard's Church, Hythe

St. Leonard's Church, Hythe

A view of the Church from beyond the High Street
© P.E. Blanche

St. Leonard's Church
showing the large South porch
© P.E. Blanche 1998

Scratch dials by the South door
(An early method of advising the
times of services. As these are
inside the porchway, it shows
that it was a later addition)
© P.E. Blanche 2002

An attractive building, particularly the interior, where, it is claimed, a Church has stood since Saxon times. Despite the size and obvioous importance of the Church, this did not become a separate Parish until 1844. The fact would be worth noting by family historians as it was, prior to that, a chapel of ease to Saltwood and there could be close family onnections as regards births, marriages and burials to that Parish.

One of the things that is most well known about the Church is its collection of bones which are kept in "The Ambulatory", also known as "The Crypt". There are many stories about these bones, some suggesting that they came from a Saxon burial ground but more recent research seems to date them as medieval. The were discovered when land was being dug up near to the Church and not knowing exactly what to do with them all, they were stacked up in The Ambulatory and there they have stayed.

The hill from the Town up to the Church is so steep that many of the Family Vaults belonging to the Church are (or were) entered from the level of the road below the Church.

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