Bapchild, Kent

Historical Description

Bapchild, a village and a parish in Kent. The village stands near the L.C. & D.R., 1 mile ESE of Sittingbourne, under which it has a post office. It probably was the Saxon Bachancild, where Wihtred, king of Kent, in 694, held his great council for the repairing of churches. The parish comprises an area of 1081 acres; population, 347. The manor belonged to the Crown in the time of King John, and was then given to Chichester Cathedral. A small oratory-stood by the wayside, as a resting-place for pilgrims en route to Canterbury, but has disappeared. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Canterbury; net value, £200 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Chichester. The church consists of nave, north aisle, two chancels, and a square tower, is principally Norman, but contains many parts in various dates of English, and is in good condition.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient County	Kent
Ecclesiastical parish	Bapchild St Lawrence
Hundred	Milton
Lathe	Scray
Poor Law union	Milton

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The parish register dates from the year 1562.

Findmypast have the following online for Bapchild, St Lawrence: baptisms 1562-1883, marriages 1562-1884, burials 1561-1919

Churches

Church of England

St. Lawrence (parish church)

The church of St. Lawrence is of flint and chiefly Norman and Early English with later insertions, and has a tower with shingled spire containing one bell, and several stained windows: the chancel was repaired in 1872, and in 1883 the basement of the tower was fitted up as a vestry: the church affords 164 sittings: the churchyard has been extended by land, the gift of the late W. W. Gascoyne esq.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Bapchild from the following:

Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bapchild (St Lawrence))

Maps

Online maps of Bapchild are available from a number of sites:

Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
Google Streetview.
National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
OpenStreetMap.
old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Kent newspapers online:

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Kent, 1619 is available on the Heraldry page, as is also The Visitation of Kent, 1663-68.

District	Swale
County	Kent
Region	South East
Country	England
Postal district	ME9
Post Town	Sittingbourne