Visited: 16th July 2016
Bilsington is a village near the Royal Military Canal in South-West Kent. It lies between Ruckinge in the west and Bonnington in the east.
"Vision of Britain" entry for Bilsington
Alan's 2 x great-grandparents Samuel Law and Jane Law (née Rayner) were married in Bilsington in 1849 and continued to live nearby until Samuel's death in 1905. Apart from their first-born, Edward, all of their children (including Alan's great-grandfather Thomas James, and Thomas's two pairs of twin sisters) were baptized at the Church of St Peter and St Paul.
One feature of Bilsington is an 18 m high obelisk that is in a field about 215 m SSW of the centre of the village. It is known as the "Bilsington Monument" or "Cosway Monument", and according to Wikipedia it was "erected in 1835 to the memory of Member of Parliament and local landowner Sir William Cosway, who was killed in a coaching accident in 1834".
This map shows the village of Bilsington and its immediate surroundings. The crossroads at The White Horse is formed by Ashford Rd (to north), Bonnington Rd (to east), Newchurch Rd (to south) and Ruckinge Rd (to west).
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| "The White Horse" inn | Looking North along Ashford Road |
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| "Cosway Cottages" in Newchurch Road | Bilsington Monument viewed from Newchurch Road |
The current church dates from the 12th century and is on the site of a church that was recorded in the Domesday Survey. A tower was added to the west end of the nave in the 16th century.
In the churchyard, there is a group of graves enclosed by a picket fence. A wooden plaque within the enclosure commemorates the burials of five Law children who died between 1865 and 1869. The chart below shows how these children are related to Alan.
Historic England: Church of St Peter and St Paul, Bilsington
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| Western end of church and tower | Eastern end of church |
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| Carved timber cover on baptismal font | Bell frame beside church tower |
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| Picket fence enclosing graves of Law children buried 1865 - 1869 | Memorial plaque to Law children |
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| Relationships of children named on memorial plaque | |
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