All Saints' Church
AN INTRODUCTION TO LOOSE CHURCH AND ITS PEOPLE
PAT JENNER
T
he church is at the centre of the village, tucked into the bottom of the coombe beside the stream known as The Brooks. It is a very plain building and over the centuries has seen many changes. The sanctuary is dated to the 13th century, but the tower at the west end is set at a strange angle and is
older. There is a small medieval doorway leading from the nave to the tower which bears traces of blue and pink wall painting. The interior of the nave is Victorian, following a fire in 1878. The original roof was thatched – some ten years ago, following a storm, some tiles needed replacing and remains of the original thatch were seen. It was impossible to save any as it disintegrated as soon as the air reached it. North and south aisles were added in the early 19th century, and the present porch replaces the original one, although the present door could have been from the original.
Two stained glass windows on the north wall of the nave are by the artist C.E. Kempe, whose work is mainly seen in Naval and Army chapels; the background detail in them is very beautiful. The All Saints window in the north wall commemorates the church's dedication; it is dated 1962 and is by H.J. Stammers, designer of the St Anslem's Chapel window in Canterbury Cathedral.
The tower has three bells housed in a wooden cage. The treble bell dates from 1550, the middle bell was cast in 1603, and the tenor bell was first cast in 1629 and has been recast twice since then. The middle and tenor bells were made by the well-known Kent bellfounder Joseph Hatch.
There are few ornamentations in All Saints'. There are five stairs to the left of the chancel arch which once led to the top of the Rood Screen. In the sanctuary there is a marble monument which was erected as a thanksgiving to a merchant who augmented the stipend of the curate, and in the Lady Chapel adjoining are three wall monuments relating to two Admirals and a wife who were of the Jones family and their descendents, the Marshams, who became prominent in Loose. Three hatchments decorate the west wall: two relate to the Martin family of nearby Salts Place: one, Denny Martin, married Frances the heiress to Leeds Castle, some five miles away. The third hatchment is circular and is that of Sarah, the first wife of James Whatman, High Sheriff of Kent and a notable member of the famous papermaking family. In the sanctuary under the High Altar is a crypt containing the remains of some of the Buffkin family of Salts Place, ancestors to Denny Martin. The direct line of the family finished in 1702 when Ralph Buffkin died childless.
The churchyard contains gravestones of many men and women who lived in the village with their families and who served their community. There are millers, masons, owners of tanneries, papermakers, farmers, fruit-growers, and many of these have been churchwardens, parish clerks and members of the Parochial Church Council through the ages – as their descendents are today. On the left side as one enters the gate and faces the church door, there is a large headstone recording the deaths of eight children of the Moore family – a reminder of the killer diseases which affected people in the 19th century. In the lower churchyard, against the wall on the left, is a rather insignificant stone recording the life of the Revd. Richard Boys (1785-1866). He was the incumbent of Loose from 1854 to his death at the age of 82 years. Before that, he had been Chaplain to the Honourable East India Company on the island of St Helena in the Atlantic (1811-1829) during the Emperor Napoleon's exile there. Neither man cared for the other, and the Revd. Boys is recorded as being honest and devout but also bad-tempered and intolerant.
By the south side of the tower is a strange monument to members of the Charlton family; it is a pillar with primitive faces on three sides of the top section. Close by is the Yew tree which stood there long before the church was built.
The most recent changes have been to the interior of the church. The Victorian pine pews have been removed and replaced by chairs; the floor has been carpeted; and the organ has been moved to its original position on the south wall and fitted into an elegant oak casing. This has released space for a kitchen, small meeting room and toilet facilities as well as a church office.
