GPX File here.
On Friday the 27th December 2024, Ian and I drove the hours drive to Cooling in Kent for a walk.
We parked outside St James Church on Main Road and walked over to look at the church.
St James Church was used in Charles Dickens Book 'Great Expectations'.
This is an excerpt from the first chapter of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It’s full of atmosphere and mystery as the hero, Pip, conscious that he is alone in the world, contemplates the graves of his family in a Kent churchyard. Then Magwitch, the escaped convict, comes up from the marshes and finds him. Pip’s life will never be the same again.
"I give Pirrip as my father’s family name, on the authority of his tombstone and my sister — Mrs. Joe Gargery, who married the blacksmith. As I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them (for their days were long before the days of photographs), my first fancies regarding what they were like, were unreasonably derived from their tombstones. The shape of the letters on my father’s, gave me an odd idea that he was a square, stout, dark man, with curly black hair. From the character and turn of the inscription, “Also Georgiana Wife of the Above,” I drew a childish conclusion that my mother was freckled and sickly. To five little stone lozenges, each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their grave, and were sacred to the memory of five little brothers of mine — who gave up trying to get a living, exceedingly early in that universal struggle — I am indebted for a belief I religiously entertained that they had all been born on their backs with their hands in their trousers—pockets, and had never taken them out in this state of existence.
Ours was the marsh country, down by the river, within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of the identity of things, seems to me to have been gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards evening. At such a time I found out for certain, that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was the churchyard; and that Philip Pirrip, late of this parish, and also Georgiana wife of the above, were dead and buried; and that Alexander, Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant children of the aforesaid, were also dead and buried; and that the dark flat wilderness beyond the churchyard, intersected with dykes and mounds and gates, with scattered cattle feeding on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden line beyond, was the river; and that the distant savage lair from which the wind was rushing, was the sea; and that the small bundle of shivers growing afraid of it all and beginning to cry, was Pip."
In the churchyard is a row of 13 children's gravestones, measuring about 18 inches (46 cm) long; these have come to be known as "Pip's Graves".
The church originates from the 13th century, with its building continuing into the following century. The upper part of the tower was added later, and was completed by about 1400. The church was restored in the 19th century, when a vestry was added, and the porch was rebuilt. It was declared redundant on 19 November 1976 and vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 31 May 1978. It is now cared for by a group known as the Friends of St James' Church. The church is open daily to visitors.
The churchyard provided the inspiration for the opening chapter of Charles Dickens' book Great Expectations, in which the hero of the story, Pip, meets the convict, Magwitch. In 2005 the musician Jools Holland married the sculptor Christabel McEwan in the church.
St James' is constructed in a variety of stone, including ragstone, flint and chalk, with some repairs in sandstone. The roofs are tiled. Its plan consists of a nave with a south porch, a chancel with a south vestry, and a west tower. The windows in the nave date from the early 14th century, and those in the chancel from the 15th century.
We leave the Church and walk along Cooling Road.
We pass Cooling Castle.
Cooling Castle is a 14th-century quadrangular castle in the village of Cooling, Kent on the Hoo Peninsula about 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Rochester. It was built in the 1380s by the Cobham family, the local lords of the manor, to guard the area against French raids into the Thames Estuary. The castle has an unusual layout, comprising two walled wards of unequal size next to each other, surrounded by moats and ditches. It was the earliest English castle designed for the use of gunpowder weapons by its defenders.
Despite this distinction, the use of gunpowder weapons against the castle proved devastating. It was captured after only eight hours when Sir Thomas Wyatt besieged it in January 1554 during his unsuccessful rebellion against Queen Mary. His attack badly damaged the castle, and it was subsequently abandoned and allowed to fall into disrepair. A farmhouse and outbuildings were constructed among the ruins a century later. Today the farmhouse is the home of the musician Jools Holland, while the nearby barn is used as a wedding venue.
It was built between 1381 and 1385 to protect the River Thames. It has a double bailey, the eastern side having a tower in each corner and earth walls in between surrounded by a dry moat and accessed through the ornate gateway. The smaller western bailey has stone walls which are still at least half their original height with a tower in each corner and a wet moat on three sides. The entrance is through the eastern bailey on the fourth side. It is now in ruins with a more recent house inside the grounds but the gatehouse remains in good condition. The castle was besieged in 1554 and suffered damaged by cannon fire.
Private, but can be seen from the road. The barns next to the castle are now used as a wedding venue.
Just a short way pass the castle we take a footpath on our right marked Saxon Shore Way.
We follow this over farmland alongside an orchard and out onto Rye Street. We follow this for a short way before we take a footpath not sign posted over Port View farm.
We follow along farmland and Cliffe comes into view. We walk through an estate of houses on Swingate avenue Very uninteresting before reaching a community shop where we turned right.
We come out opposite the Six Bells Pub, sadly far too early for it to be open.
The Six Bells has been in the village since the 16th century, it was once accompanied by twelve other pubs, however we are now the last functioning public house. The reason for the name of the establishment is The St Helens Church which is located next door, which holds 6 bells.
We are now walking along Church Street.
Cliffe is on the Hoo Peninsula, reached from the Medway Towns by a three-mile (4.8 km) journey along the B2000 road. Situated upon a low chalk escarpment overlooking the Thames marshes, Cliffe offers views of Southend-on-Sea and London. In 774 Offa, King of Mercia, built a rustic wooden church dedicated to St Helen, a popular Mercian saint who was by legend the daughter of Coel ("Old King Cole") of Colchester. Cliffe is cited in early records as having been called Clive and Cliffe-at-Hoo. In 1961 the parish had a population of 2239. On 1 April 1997 the parish was abolished to form "Cliffe & Cliffe Woods", part of which consisting of Frindsbury Extra.
 |
| St Helens Church |
The Grade I listed St Helen's Church at Cliffe was built about 1260 and was constructed in the local style of alternating layers of Kent ragstone and squared black flint. It is one of the largest parish churches in Kent, and the only one dedicated to St Helen, the size of the church revealing its past importance. It contains wall paintings of the martyrdom of St. Edmund, a Jacobean pulpit, and fine stone carvings.
Above the porch is a muniments room containing important historical documents.
During the 14th century Cliffe was the site of a farm owned by the monks of Christ's Church, Canterbury, when the village had a population of about 3,000. In the late Middle Ages the village of Cliffe supported a port, which thrived until a disastrous fire in 1520 stifled its growth, marking a period of decline, accentuated by the silting of the marshes of the Thames Estuary. Cliffe-at-Hoo was still considered a town in the 16th century, but by the middle of the 19th century the population had slumped to about 900.
Clovesho, or Clofeshoch, was an ancient Saxon town, in Mercia and near London, where the Anglo-Saxon Church is recorded as holding the important Councils of Clovesho between 742 and 825. These had representation from the archbishopric of Canterbury and the whole English church south of the Humber. The location of Cloveshoo has never been successfully identified, but in the 18th century Cliffe was thought to be one possible location.
We follow a track called Pickles Way, an unmade road full of potholes and the marshes to one side.
The rise of the Kent cement industry brought a new prosperity to the ancient settlement during the Victorian era.
Alfred Francis (second son of Charles), with his son, established the firm of Francis and Co. at the Nine Elms office at Vauxhall, London, and then built the cement works at Cliffe in about 1860. Francis and Co instituted the Nine Elms cement works . These works were built on Cliffe marsh, to the west of the village where the chalk cliffs came almost to within a mile of the River Thames. The area also proved a useful source of clay.
Alfred Francis died in 1871, but in partnership his son continued to produce "Portland, Roman, Medina and Parian cement, Portland stucco and Plaster of Paris", also shipping chalk, flints and fire bricks, from the site.
The riverside location provided ease of transport and wharves were duly built at the mouth of Cliffe creek. A canal was constructed from the works, which gave its name to a tavern built nearby, now long demolished but remembered as the Canal Tavern.
1870–71 saw further developments to the cement works, which were rebuilt and extended, with an elaborate tramway added. Methods of extracting the chalk were basic, involving the labourer being suspended by a rope (around his waist) secured at the cliff top, from which position he would hack out the chalk, so that it fell to the ground below to be collected in a waiting railway wagon.
Further to the north of the Francis and Company works near the river, an explosive works (Curtis and Harvey) opened in 1901. Over the factory's 20-year history, 16 people were to lose their lives in explosions.
Francis and Company was taken over about 1900 by the British Portland Cement Company, but after the Great War the cement works began to decline, and was finally phased out in 1920–21.
By 1901 the population of Cliffe exceeded 3,000.
Pickles Way eventually reaches RSPB Cliffe Pools.
We marvel at the magnificent array of water birds that rest, breed and feed at Cliffe Pools, with a backdrop of lagoons, pools and the River Thames beyond.
The open horizons of Cliffe Pools provide a brilliant birdwatching backdrop. Look out across the pools, lagoons and the River Thames beyond as waders and wildlfowl make the most of the wetland landscape. Spring sees breeding Avocets and Common Terns enjoying the saltwater pools, while summer brings a mix of migrant birds to the reserve. Autumn marks the arrival of winter thrushes and wintering waders, as songbirds depart for sunnier shores. As for winter, it’s busy season as vast flocks of ducks, Dunlins and Lapwings gather.
Coastguard Radar Tower, Cliffe
Located on a low ridge of chalk, this radar station covers the Thames Estuary.
We follow the road around the pools.
We pass Car parks, Quarries and a aggregate plant. Not the most picturesque, hard to judge when mapping route out on the OS map.
Eventually passing the Eternal lake reserve, which looks nice with the Pure planet café, stone circle etc but sadly all closed and gates locked so we couldn't look about or grab a cuppa from the café!
 |
| Eternal Lake Reserve |
So walking on we turn left at the top of the road and follow this for a short way before turning right onto Higham Road and we follow this back through Cliffe and across the roundabout onto Cooling Road.
We take a footpath across farmland that had two metal detectorists working the field.
We exit out onto Cooling Street.
Here we stopped to say hello to a horse that wasn't the slightest bit interested in us and continued to eat.
We leave Cooling Street via a stile and walk across the paddocks.
Due to poor signage we walked about and ended up taking the wrong path, so instead of backtracking we hopped fences and walked across rough ground and long grass which resulted with Ians walking shoes letting through water and getting wet feet.
We eventually make our way back onto Cooling Road and passing the Cooling Castle again and back to the church and car.
Cooling was recorded in the Domesday Book when it was held by Bishop Odo of Bayeux (half-brother of William the Conqueror). The most notable surviving feature of the village is Cooling Castle, built on the edge of the marshes during the 12th century to defend the neighbouring port of Cliffe from the threat of French raiders.
Not the most exciting walks probably marred with the grey misty weather, but some points of this 6 mile walk were nice. Now to drive home!
