Copyright Kent Past 2010
Kent Past
The History of Kent
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History of Graveney
Graveney comes from the Old English ‘grafa’ meaning a ‘trench, ditch’ with ‘ēa’ as a ‘river’; therefore, a ‘ditch stream’. The Domesday Book records Graveney as Gravenel.
In 811, Canulph, King of Mercia, who had also made a successful takeover bid for
the Kingdom of Kent, sold the manor of Graveney to Wilfred, Archbishop of Canterbury,
for the use of Christ Church, Canterbury.
Graveney parish church is a Grade: I listed
building, dedicated to All Saints. The Normans rebuilt the Saxon chapel in the 12th
century, with alterations and additions in the 14th and 15th centuries. Around 1510,
William Culverden cast and hung a bell. In 1618, John Wilnar cast a tenor and John
Palmer adding a third bell in 1637. In 1798, Edward Hasted described the Graveney
church as consisting of ‘three isles and a high chancel, and two side ones formerly
called chapels, the south one being dedicated to St. John, and the north one to the
Virgin Mary. The steeple, which is a tower, stands at the north-