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History & Description of St Peters Church, Swingfield
Parish
records list the burials from 1698 onwards and are retained at
Canterbury. Names from prominent local families dating back generations
can be found throughout the older part of the Churchyard. The
eastern side remains in current use for the local Parish.
In
the Churchyard to the east of the nave are a number of headstones
that are Grade 2 Listed by English Heritage. Although badly weathered
some detail remains, one is carved with a central shield and other
carved decoration and is inscribed to ‘Henry Collard, Bricklayer
and Yoeman of the Parish of Alkham’ dated 1735. The others
have some carved decoration but are now generally unreadable.
Places
mentioned in the ancient records such as ‘Northcourt Manor’,
‘Boyinton Manor’, ‘Smersall‘, and ‘St
Johns‘, still exist if only in name, as Northcourt Cottages,
Boyington Manor Farm, Smershole Farm, and St Johns Farm. They
remain in their original locations but the manor houses are long
gone.
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