SNOPPER SAYS.....

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Part two of our journey through hitherto unknown parts of deepest Kent saw us say a fond farewell to Wickhambreaux and venture to the nearby village/township of Wingham. Not too sure what to make of Wingham. It seems pleasant enough - plenty of architectural interest but it`s spoiled by having a main road (the A257 from Canterbury to Sandwich) running through it. Wingham also seems to lack any real claim to fame but its church has a sundial above the main door rather than a clock and Wingham is allegedly the former home of `celebrity chef` Paul Hollywood so you can see what I mean about its claim to fame.

But I did come across a coffee shop with the intriguing name of `The Politician`s Daughter.` After a few bells rang in my head I realised that that was a snippet from a popular song which was first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1946. It contains the line:-

"A politician`s daughter
Was accused of drinking water
And was fined a great big fifty dollar bill.
They`ve got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil."

And that was about it for Wingham, so off we went to our next stop which was the hamlet of Barfrestone, which I had heard about but never visited before. It lies in a pretty remote area of east Kent which used to include the now defunct Kent Coal Fields. Barfrestone used to have a pub - it`s now a private house; it used to have a telephone box - it still has the box but no telephone.

But the glory of Barfrestone and the reason for our visit is its 12th century Norman church of St. Nicholas which is a Grade 1 listed building and has been described as the best Norman church in the country. The quality and profusion of the decoration is breathtaking. The outstanding feature is the south doorway but there is also a fine and rare Norman wheel window. There is so much to see and admire both inside and out.

Here are a couple of photos I took on our visit:- (Please click on them for better images).......