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| The history of a church in Old Groombridge
goes back to 1239 when William Russell and his wife Haweis were
granted a charter to build the Chapel of St John the Apostle
and Evangelist. This was a chantry, a small building within
the moat of the manor house, consecrated for the saying of Masses
for the souls of its benefactors. Lands were granted to Sir
Robert, Rector of Speldhurst, to pay the stipend of the Chaplain
performing this duty. |
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The present Church is built
in the last stage of the Gothic style, known as perpendicular.
It is a historic reminder of an event, more than three
and a half centuries ago, when Prince Charles (later to
be King Charles I) made a journey to Spain in disguise
to try to persuade the daughter of the Spanish King to
elope with him. The event caused great concern to the
people of England who still had the memory of the Spanish
Armada fresh in their minds. At this time John Packer,
Clerk of the Privy Seal to Charles I, was living in the
manor at Groombridge and he vowed that if Charles returned
safe from Spain he would build a chapel in his park as
a thanks-offering to God. When Charles returned safe in
both senses, unscathed and unmarried, the Chapel was built
and finished in 1625 and this is recorded in the Latin
inscription above the porch. Although there was still
the small chapel inside the moat of the manor house, which
served for the family and its retainers, the villagers
had up until then had to go to Speldhurst for Sunday worship
and for baptisms, weddings and funerals. So the building
of the new Chapel made it much easier for the villagers
to attend church. With the chapel went a piece of land
as a burial-ground, and the registers show that the first
person to be buried there was John Lee on 13th June 1633.
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| John Packer’s Church remained a private
Chapel from 1625-1872, and for a time it became known as St
Charles’ Chapel. In later years, after the last male member
of the Packer family had died, the estate became vested in Chancery
and the Chapel fell into disrepair. When William Camfield, a
Tunbridge Wells builder, bought Groombridge Place in 1754 he
“repaired and beautified” the chapel “from
a very ruinous condition” and he then added his name to
the Packer stone over the porch in letters twice as large as
the original inscription. |
In spite
of Camfield’s beautifying, by the beginning of
the 19th century the building is described by Amsinck
in his “Tunbridge Wells and Neighbourhood”
as in a wretched state of dilapidation. It was subsequently
re-roofed. In 1872 the Church was officially consecrated
and dedicated, as in ancient times, to St John the Evangelist.
In 1895 a fire caused by lightning seriously damaged
the east end. This was repaired but in 1912 it was found
that the roof had not been properly supported and was
weighing too heavily on the top of the wall and breaking
up the window arches. Some of the buttresses, too, were
separating from the walls they were meant to support.
This was put right at the cost of £300, a large
sum in those days.
One of the main attractions of this Church is its wealth
of stained glass, which was mainly introduced in the
latter part of the 19th century. Six of the eight large
windows are the work of the celebrated Sussex artist,
Charles Kempe, but also of special note is the centre
light of the S.E. window, featuring the armorial bearings
of the Packer family. This is the original glass, dating
from the building of the Church.
Another glory of the chapel is the brass-work. There
are four brass chandeliers hanging over the aisle, one
of them said to be Flemish 17th century work and the
others copies. Also of note are the decorative candlesticks
around the walls, the oak pulpit and font and the many
memorials. The clock at the west end is very old. It
is one of the few remaining one-handed clocks in the
country and the space between the figures is divided
into four and not five. The date on the clock face is
1792 but the clock itself is much earlier. |
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Click
here to link to the KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY visual
record archive for St John's Groombridge |
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