Church of St James Cooling Kent #2

Hello again final part of yesterdays church.

Double 13th century Piscina, a sign of wealth.

With the sun streaming in.

Detail on the original 14th century north door.

Marble memorial to John Murton of Cooling Castle who died in 1852 having fallen overboard whilst off Rio de Janeiro, hence the chain and anchor.

Arcading on the walls.

"Modern" Victorian pews.

Against the "older" medieval benches of the 14th century.

Obviously from a wedding in August, although its closed it still has occasional services.

The 13 graves belonging to two local families are commonly called "Pip's Graves" although Dickens reduced the number in the book to 5 to make it more believable.

Thanks for looking, Mike

St James, Cooling Kent

Hi folks, yes it's me again giving the blog another go.

Yesterday we took a trip to this church a favorite haunt of Charles Dickens who used to walk here from Higham. The church was originally constructed in 1241 and was at that time very close to the Thames estuary before the marshes were drained.

In the Nave looking towards the Chancel and the Altar.

This door lead into the vestry which is covered in  Cockle shells.

Close up of the Cockelshells affixed to the walls, the shells being a symbol of St James.

The East window which is Victorian.

Close up of the magnificent window.

The Chancel Arch which would have originally supported the Rood Beam.

On the North Wall is the Royal Arms of Queen Anne.

Opposite the Vestry is this Magnificent Organ.

Finally is the original 14th century door still hanging on its original hinges but the doorway behind is bricked up.

Thanks for taking the time to look and if possible leave a comment if you are on Google, if not a comment on the facebook link would be appreciated.

Thank you all for looking, Best regards, Mike