St. Margaret’s Church, Broomfield, Kent.

St. Margaret’s church, in the small Kent village of Broomfield, is not recorded in the Domesday book but its existence was acknowledged by Robert Crevecoeur in 1119. It consists of a Norman two-part nave and chancel with a late medieval western tower and with the relatively modern additions of a vestry and western porch. The Norman church would have comprised a plain nave and chancel. That chancel was remodelled in 1879, removing all Norman traces. Local Kentish ragstone is the predominant building material; no Maidstone tufa limestone was employed, unlike Saint Nicholas’ Leeds where tufa is a significant feature. 

The building is listed as Grade 2 and the 2019 quinquennial report records that it is in good condition. Electric lighting was first installed in 1954, and in 1963 the Victorian coke-fired boiler and central heating was replaced by bottled gas convector heaters. By 1985 these were supplemented by three infra-red electric heaters, but the building was showing signs of dampness and in 1991 a complete new system of electric heating was installed.

The central lancet window in the north wall features pieces of yellow-stained late mediaeval glass, believed to be rescued from the ravages of the Commonwealth period. 

The tower contains 6 bells, rung from ground level. The churchyard is open and in regular use and In the churchyard the tombstone of the famous Kentish bell-founder Joseph Hatch lies near the south wall.

The yew tree at the West end of the church has been certified by the Yew Tree Campaign to be 1000 years old. Also of interest is St. Margaret’s Well at the junction of the church entrance path with The Street.  There is a record of the well dating 1507, and it has been dressed and blessed each year since 1989, for the Patronal Festival on or near 20th July.