Brookland

[poliphilo]

Brookland

This is St Augustine, Brookland, on the edge of Romney Marsh in Kent. There are lots of early 19th century people called Grist buried in the churchyard. I like to think they were my ancestors.

My father was stationed here during the war. He was with a Naval bomb disposal unit. Why the Germans were dropping bombs on a part of the world that contains nothing but sheep is beyond me.

The belltower stands separate from the church- like an Italian campanile. To the best of my knowledge there's nothing else like it in Britain. 

Comments

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

What's the faceted pointy thing, left rear?

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

The bell-shaped bell tower, I think.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That's the bell tower. Weird, innit?

[sovay]

*recognizes your icon and approves*

[halfmoon-mollie.livejournal.com]

Romney Marsh. How very cool. And what a gorgeous building.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Today I shall post a picture of the interior- which is equally beautiful.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

It looks like a bell! Not at all like a campanile. (But I gather that was the freestanding part.)

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The only way in which it resembles a campanile is in standing alone.

It's a wooden structure. I assume (I have no authority for this) that they built it light because of the difficulty of securing foundations in the marshy soil. The church itself is skewed everywhichaway and has had to have these brick buttresses built up against the south wall to stop it from keeling over.

[happydog.livejournal.com]

This is odd, because about a month ago I had a dream that I was in England and THIS is exactly the place I dreamed about. I have never been to England in my life.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

How very strange.

Perhaps your ancestral roots are here in Romney Marsh (as I believe mine to be).

[happydog.livejournal.com]

It could be, somehow, although the immediate ancestors (great grandfather) was from Wales. I dunno! I hope you don't mind the link to your picture.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Not at all, I'm flattered.

[idahoswede.livejournal.com]

Free-standing bell towers are very common in Sweden, not quite like this but often a conical roofed shape.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I was thinking it looked a bit (but not exactly) Scandanavian.