England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Boughton Malherbe St Nicholas

The Parish

The parish of Boughton Malherbe lies almost centrally within Kent and sits roughly 10 miles southeast of the town of Maidstone. Boughton Malherbe sits a little over 2 miles south of the A20 road which links Maidstone with Ashford. Boughton Malherbe sits on the ridge of land sitting above the Low Weald formed from Greensand, the poor soils formed on this bed gives us the suffix to the village in early French "mal herbe". Whilst the hamlet of Boughton Malherbe grants its name to the parish and holds the church, the larger settlement is that of Grafty Green below in the Weald, a small linear village formed around a shallow fork in minor lanes. The area around Grafty Green was also the most productive in the parish, a glance at Ordnance Survey mapping shows many orchards for typical Kentish fruit such as apples, pears and cherries. Much else was wooded and managed for the products such as poles, brush and light timber. Modern developments have come to the parish with the arrival of the modern M20 motorway which cuts across to the north en route from London to the Channel Tunnel. Boughton Malherbe is drained southwards by small brooks which merge to form the River Sherway, at Headcorn the Sherway meets the Boult and the latter heads westwards to eventually meet the Medway wherein water turns back north to pass through the port of Chatham into the outer Thames Estuary and the North Sea. Boughton Malherbe is sited at around 120 metres above the sea with Grafty Green some 50 metres lower, to the west at Knowle Hill the Greensand touches the 160 metre contour at the local high spot. Most parishes in this area are larger than the average for southern rural parishes, Boughton Malherbe was typical in covering 2,700 acres which would have supported a population of around 500 parishioners. The poverty of this area in Domesday times is reflected in the few assets shared between the Archbishop of Canterbury & Bishop Odo of Bayeux, just 4 ploughs, a tiny meadow and some woodland made for little returns.

The Church

St Nicholas' church sits in the hamlet of Boughton Malherbe accompanied solely by a few cottages and farms. The church has most fabric from the 14th century but a trace of earlier origins remains in the early 13th century tower arch of the Early English Gothic period, it shows the pointed arch typical of that era. The nave and its southern aisle and arcade is largely from the early 14th century Decorated period, it is built in a ragstone from the vicinity. To the west stands the western tower, an unbuttressed structure from the later Perpendicular style, probably late 14th century but perhaps early 15th. Whilst the chancel arch is contemporaneous with the nave, the chancel, itself, was rebuilt in a Victorian restoration of 1848 to 1850, that rebuild being the main work of the restoration which otherwise merely added Caen stone tracery to some of the earlier windows. The church sits at the junction of Boughton Road with Church Road behind a low local stone wall, the verge to the west of the entrance is usually used for parking. The churchyard is raised slightly above road height with a flight of 5 steps rising to it. The photographer will find this a difficult church to photograph due to the trees which almost surround it, only a few select views are available and require some scouting around.