Bell Gable - St Cosmus & St Damian - Blean, Kent - Bell Towers on Waymarking.com

The church, dedicated to St. Cosmus and Damianus, consists of only one isle and a chancel, having a low pointed turret at the west end, in which hangs one bell.

"A church was noted on the present site in 1086 (not the present building), with a strong suggestion of an early pre-Conquest church prior to that. There is an (unproven) folklore suggestion that the site of the present church actually dates from 598, when the early monks accompanying Augustine from Rome set up a shrine to the saints Cosmus and Damian at this point on the ancient Salt Road to the north Kent coast which runs past the church on its way to Seasalter. Here, at the top of the hill, perhaps there was already a much-visited ancient pagan shrine which the missionaries found and decided to 'Christianise'.

Dedications of churches to Cosmus and Damian are very unusual in Britain (there are, in fact, only four in the whole country), but they were at that time very well known in Rome, where a church in their names had been opened in the Forum as recently as 530 (the Basilica of Saints Cosmus & Damian).

The present flintstone church, roofed with Kent peg tiles, was rebuilt before 1233, by order of the Crown, and the "Calendar of Liberate Rolls" for 1233 shows Henry lll repaying the sum of £20.3s.8d to Walter de Kirkeham for carrying out this instruction.

From about 1200 onwards, the Eastbridge Hospital had acquired a growing interest in the area, the lordship of the manor being formally confirmed in 1359, and the Master of Eastbridge still remains the Patron of the parish. It would appear that the fortunes of the manor itself declined after this, and severe fire damage in the late 14th or early 15th century resulted in the site being abandoned.

The rebuilt church of circa 1233 is characterised by the lancet windows of Early English Gothic style and has changed little, apart from the closing of two lancets in the west wall and their replacement during the 14th century by a window in the Perpendicular late Gothic style, plus a similar new window in the south wall of the nave.
This latter alteration coincided with the institution of the post of Vicar in the Blean (c.1375), and culminated in the building of the church's finest possession, its timber crown-post roof.

The Victorian rebuilding and extension [of the church] was certainly enthusiastic, although unfortunately much of the original appearance of the church appears to have been obliterated in the process. The whole north wall disappeared to accommodate a sizeable extension, whilst the present single bell gable replaced the earlier wooden turret above the old building (the timbers from which are alleged to have been used in the stables of the then vicarage at Mulberry Down)."

SOURCE - (visit link)

Address of Tower: St Cosmus and St Damian in the Blean Tyler Hill Road Blean, Kent England CT2 9EZ Still Operational: yes Number of bells in tower?: 1 Relevant website?: Not listed Rate tower: Not listed Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Please post an original picture of the tower taken while you were there. Please also record how you came to be at this tower and any other interesting information you learned about it while there.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.