Copyright Kent Past 2010
Kent Past
The History of Kent
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History of Hinxhill
Hinxhill comes from the Old English ‘hengest’ meaning a ‘horse, stallion, gelding’
with ‘sell’ as a ‘shed, shelter for animals, herdsman’s hut’; therefore, ‘stallion
shed’. There is a suggestion -
Hinxhill parish church is a Grade: I listed building, dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin. The Normans built it with additions and extensions in the 13th and 14th centuries. An unknown bell founder cast and hung two bells around 1430. In 1552, there is a record of three bells. Joseph Hatch recast a bell in 1634. In 1798, Edward Hasted described St Mary’s church as a ‘small building, consisting of two isles and two chancels, having a low spire steeple at the west end, in which are three bells’. The Victorians carried out a general restoration in 1881. In 1887, Stahlschmidt reported that one of the 1430 bells had disappeared, leaving just two…. more