Rolvenden - St. Mary the Virgin

St. Mary the Virgin from the North © P.E. Blanche 1998

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Rolvenden is of particular interest to me as this is the Village where my ancestors lived in the late 1700's. Unfortunately, I have few pictures of the Church and none, at present of the interior. Hopefully this situation will be rectified in the not too distant future. In the meantime, I have completed a page for the Church of St. Mary the Virgin as it should be of particular interest for many overseas visitors to this site. The reason for this is that many individuals left this area, particularly for Australia, in the period between 1830 and 1850, during and after the "Swing Riots".

This Weald Parish along with several others made a conscious decision to provide "the Poor" with their money for their assisted passages to the Colonies rather than having to pay out large amounts on an ongoing basis for parish relief. They considered that in the long run they would actually save money by using this approach. I know that part of my own Blanch family, who were agricultural labourers were funded in this way to sail to Australia where they eventually settled in the Newcastle and Raymond's Terrace area of New South Wales.

There was a Church in Rolvenden as far back as 1072 as recorded in the Doomsday Book but it may or may not of been on this location. However, there has been a Church where the present building stands since the early 13th Century and its original construction was by the monk of Christ Church in Canterbury. The only remaining part of that building are two lancet windows in the chancel and one assumes, the walls around it. The Church was increased to its present size in the late 13th and early 14th Century. The Church had several additions made to it in the remainder of the 14th/15th Century but there have been no major structural changes since 1470. There are some interesting pews in the Church at one time used by the Monypenny and Gybbon families and probably prior to that by the Guildford family.

In 1555, the then Vicar of Rolvenden, John Frankish, was one of the Martyrs that was burned at the stake in Canterbury where the event is still remembered by the aptly named Martyrsfield Road.