The
Churchyard of St.Cosmus and St.Damian in
the Blean
History
The
small churchyard, surrounded by “park” metal
fencing would appear to have been originally
based within the surrounds of the Roman
villa, which had been built in the area,
as the older part is within the ditch
of the villa. In this area are the graves
and headstones of 
those
buried before about 1914.
In
about 1914 the “Old “graveyard
must have been filled and a “New” graveyard
area was started north of the villa site,
to the left as you enter the gate by
the car park.
Plan
The churchyard was surveyed by students
of the Royal School of Military Engineering
at Chatham in about 2001, as an exercise
in their training, and all the headstones
were registered under the Global Positioning
System. The churchyard plan is therefore
reasonably accurate.
Database
The churchyard records are divided into
two with the approximate lines of the “Old
Churchyard” headstones and graves
noted with double letters (AA,BB, ..
etc) and the “New Churchyard” lines
of graves and headstones noted with
single letters (A,B, .. etc).
Regrettably
the records of the “Old churchyard” are
limited to the details of the headstones
in the area which can be deciphered.
The records of the “New Churchyard” are
generally complete as we were fortunate
enough to have been given the records
of the original gravedigger of that
area.
A
copy of the churchyard records has
been placed in the church, on the shelf
below the table to the right as one enters
the main door, and visitors are encouraged
to make comments and amend this copy
as they are able.
An
exercise to complete individual headstone
details has still
to be done – any volunteers?
Click here to
download a copy of the “New Churchyard” lines
of graves and headstones document in pdf format.
Click here to
download a copy of the “Old Churchyard” headstones
and graves document in pdf format.
Upkeep
A small group of members of the congregation
maintain the churchyard. At present
these 
are
Eric Bate and David Blackmore, who
have been at it for many years,
and Colin Caverhill and Ian Keay.
We
have a “Spring Clean” on
a Saturday morning in March/April each
year. Anyone who feels able to help
on a regular basis or at the “Spring
Clean” would be made very welcome!
Social History
We are very aware of the social history
of the villages held within the churchyard
and are keen to ensure that this history
is not lost. We note the number of
surnames which prominently feature,
such as: Anderson,
Browning, Fisher, Fleet, Goodban, Goodwin,
Kennett, Marsh, Newman, Price, Ratcliffe,
Taylor, Wallis and Wood.
We
need to try and discover and record
as much
social
history as we can. To give a flavour
of what we mean by social history
attached as an Annex is a contribution
kindly
proved by
Mr
Lester Clark, whose family has
lived in the villages and
supported
the church for very many years.
Hopefully
we will be able to add other family
details to the Social History
Annex as time goes
by.
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ChurchYard
Annex
Social
History
HENRY TAYLOR AND ROSE KIRBY
We
are particularly fortunate to have
been given details of Mr Henry Taylor,
who had particular connections with the
churchyard, as he was the sexton for
54 years! It is right we take note of
his history as his family still live
in Blean!
Henry
was born in Tyler Hill in 1888 and
then moved to “Orchard House “in
Chapel Lane, Blean with his parents William
and Elizabeth Taylor (buried in the churchyard)
and his brother Fred.
He met Rose Kirby who lived with her parents at Honey Hill Farm, Blean (Frances
and Thomas Kirby also buried in churchyard). Rose was a direct descendant of
Nathaniel Kirby who moved to Blean and married Mary Pim in Blean Church on
17 May 1759.
Henry
and Rose married in Blean Church in
1915 and lived in Chapel Lane all their
lives.
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Henry was “self employed” and did various jobs, mainly working
in the woods making pit props (presumably for the Kent pits operating at the
time), hedging, ditching, maintaining Blean Churchyard and grave digging. He
was the Parish Clerk for 48 years. He took on the job of sexton when he was
22 and continued in that role until he was 76! He dug the graves of his and
his wife’s parents next to each other so that at a later date he
and Rose could be buried with their respective parents and remain together
for
ever.
He was a small, wiry man but very strong, which he needed to be bearing
in mind the
waterlogged
clay nature of the churchyard. He cut the grass with a scythe until the
early 1960s, when his daughter gave him a push
mower. He
never drove, but went around with his tools on the crossbar of his bicycle.
In addition Henry lit the church boilers, prepared the oil lamps and laid
out the Communion table very early on Sundays. He then returned home for
his sausage
meat breakfast and then back to the church to ring the bell.
He
sat in the single pew seat by the rear
pillar to be ready to ring the bell
again
at the
appropriate times during the service.
While Henry did all this Rose took over from her mother, Frances, as
church cleaner. She kept the church spotless, including scrubbing the
flagstone
floor.
The
water came from a 
nearby
pond in Church Cottage’s garden,
except in the summer when the pond dried up and she had to fetch the water
from the
Sarre Penn, at the bottom of the valley.
To
dust the rafters Henry made her a long
pole with feathers on the end. She
also cleaned the brass and arranged
the flowers.
When Henry gave up full time work and his church duties he continued
to work part time until he was 82 when he was forced retire, when he
fell
off his bike
and broke a hip.
He continued to puff on his pipe, smoking “Hearts of Oak” and “Nut
Brown “tobacco, until his death at 91. He and Rose are buried in the
churchyard.
We
are very grateful to Lester Clark,
Henry’s Grandson, who lives in
School Lane Blean, and his mother, for
providing these details of church, and
churchyard, life, which we are glad to
help preserve+. Henry’s Great Granddaughter,
Shelley Clark, is soon to be married
in Blean Church. This wonderful family
story continues……!
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The Truemans of Oakwell
The
Truemans of Oakwell, and their descendants,
have featured
greatly in the life of
Blean Church. The house of “Oakwell
in the Blean”, in Tyler Hill, has
always been within the boundary of the
Parish of St Cosmus and St Damian in
the Blean, even when most of Tyler Hill
was in the Parish of St Stephens.
Charles Joseph Trueman was born in
London in 1810 and served in
the 6th Dragoons(
Carabiniers). In 1838 he married Penelope
Susan Hamilton, the daughter of the
Revd James Hamilton, the then
Rector of St
Stephens. She was born in 1818.
Oakwell, which was built in about 1836,
was given to them as a wedding present!
Charles and Penelope Susan had a son
and two daughters:
Charles Hamilton born in 1839,
Florence Augusta born in 1844 and died
in 1897,
Alicia Matilda born in 1846 and died
in 1919
Penelope
Susan died at Oakwell in 1877 and Charles
Joseph
died in 1880. They
are buried next to each other in the “Old” churchyard
to the South of the chancel. The West
stained glass window of the church was
commissioned in memory of them. Florence
Augusta is buried next to her parents.
Oakwell was inherited by Charles Hamilton
Trueman. He joined the army and served
in 32nd Light Infantry Regiment. He married
Dorothea Magdelene Fitzgerald, younger
daughter of Dr JP Fitzgerald MD of South
Africa in 1874. Charles Hamilton and
Dorothea Magdalene had a daughter and
four sons:
Mary Penelope Florence born in 1875,
Charles Fitzgerald Hamilton born in 1877,
Henry John Hamilton born in 1878,
Arthur Philip Hamilton born in 1880,
James Fitzgerald Hamilton born in 1884.
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Mary Penelope Florence married John
Hayward Taylor Gornall, who had served
in the Royal Artillery in the Great War,
in 1922 and died childless in 1946.
In 1914 the tragedy of the 1st World
War struck the family when Charles
Fitzgerald, then a Captain in
the Manchester Regiment,
who had previously served in the Boer
War, was killed in the battle of Le
Cateau. The shock of this may
well have caused
the death of his mother. He is listed
on the 1st World War Memorial in the
church. He is buried in the Le Cateau
Military Cemetery.
Henry John became a major serving
in the 43rd Erinpura Regiment
of the Indian
Army and served during the Great
War in Mesopotamia, twice being
mentioned
in despatches..
Arthur Philip joined the East Kent
Regiment “The
Buffs” and served in the Boer War.
He married Violet Elizabeth Bews. He
reached the rank of Lt Col and was awarded
the OBE. He
was wounded in action in
the Great War and was invalided back
to England. Both he and his wife died
in the great flu’ epidemic of 1918.
He is listed on the 1st World War Memorial
in the church. He was buried in Mansfield
Cemetery
James Fitzgerald died unmarried in
1951. Dorothea Magdelene died in 1914 and
Charles Hamilton in1917.
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Because of the death of his elder brother
Charles Fitzgerald in 1914 Henry John
inherited Oakwell on the death of his
father in 1917
Henry John married Margery Norman Wightwick
on 2nd September 1911 and in 1914 they
had a daughter, Jean Hamilton. She was
their only child. John Henry died in
1922 and there is a memorial to him by
the back gate of the churchyard. Margery
Norman lived at Oakwell until her death
on 28th January 1951. She was the last
person bearing the name of Trueman to
live at Oakwell.
Her daughter Jean Hamilton married Lt
Cmdr Rodolf Cecil Drummond Haig, only
son of Mr and Mrs Cecil Haig of the Chase, Monnington – on - Wye, Herefordshire,
in the nave of Canterbury Cathedral, on 29th June 1935. Jean Hamilton and her
husband moved to Oakwell in 1953. Her uncle James Fitzgerald had acted as a
trustee of Oakwell in 1951 and 1952. Jean and Rodolf were both very much involved
with the church.. Jean and Rodolf had two daughters:
Penelope Susan. Born on 23 August 1938,
Elizabeth Anne. Born on 26 September 1945
Penelope
Susan married George Shetliffe of Hereford
on 27 February 1960
and Elizabeth Anne married Lt
John Colin Caverhill, of the
Royal Scots (the Royal
Regiment), the First Regiment of Foot, on 25 February 1967 in the church.
Rodolf
Haig died in May 1981.
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The
pattern and chalice usually
used at the Eucharist
were presented to the church in 
memory of him. Jean Haig (nee Trueman)
died on 16 March 1988. The
processional cross was presented
to the church
in her
memory. The two daughters inherited Oakwell. Elizabeth and Colin moved
to Oakwell in 1990 and the
ownership fell to Elizabeth in 1991.
Colin
retired from the
Army in the rank of Lt Col in 1993. Elizabeth died on 20 January 2004
and many donations kindly given at
the time of her death helped
with the costs of the
reordering of the church. Colin inherited Oakwell on her death.
Elizabeth and Colin had four daughters:
Lucy Helen. Born on 27 January 1969 in Penang, Malaysia and married
in the church on 25 February 1996 to Henry Rymill of Adelaide, Australia.
Charlotte Louise. Born on 3 November 1970 in Penang, Malaysia and married
in the church on 7 July 2001 to Adrian Downing of London.
Sarah Eleanor Jean. Born on 22 January 1981 in Salisbury.
Katherine Anne. Born on 29 July 1983 in Edinburgh.
Oakwell and its garden is available,
at present, for any church activities.
We thank the Truemans for the link
between Oakwell and the church lasting
170 years.
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