Stories of the people of North Kent, news from Kent Archaeological Society part 1

The Comport burial plot, photographed c. 1903 

Bringing history to life in north Kent graveyards

Here is another news story from Kent Archaeological Society

Another 1,653 memorial inscriptions (‘MIs’) recorded at seven parish churches and cemeteries in north Kent have been added to the Kent Archaeological Society’s website, bringing the total number of parishes and villages covered across the county since the project began 10 years ago to nearly 300.

Several of the records have been transcribed from antiquarians’ notes dating back to the 1760s. The older the notes the more valuable are they, because with the passing of time many MIs become completely illegible due to weathering and ivy growth, or are permanently lost for a variety of other reasons.

As most MIs commemorate at least two individuals, tens of thousands of people are recorded on the Kent site.

The latest postings include MIs from what is arguably the most famous churchyard in fiction, immortalized by Charles Dickens in Great Expectations.

St James, Cooling, on the Thames marshes, is reputedly where orphan Pip recalled, ‘As I never saw my father or my mother, my first fancies regarding what they were like were unreasonably derived from their tombstones’. Escaped convict Abel Magwitch pounced from behind one of them, terrifying Pip by demanding food and a file to remove his leg irons. 

Cooling church is a major tourist attraction for Dickens enthusiasts and is six miles from his country house, Gadshill Place, Higham, where he died in 1870. 

Cooling Castle, photographed c. 1903

In real life the tombs are those of the Comport family. Nearby there are 13 body stones, including ‘five little stone lozenges’ marking the graves of what Dickens imagined to be those of Pip’s siblings.

Pictures and text courtesy of  Kent Archaeological Society