History of Oxney Bottom and St. Nicholas Church

The Romans landed near here at Deal in 54 BC and local lore has it that a massacre of the ancient Britons occurred in this valley and also at Knight's Bottom outside Kingsdown. Roman artifacts and a body were discovered at nearby Martin Mill at the beginning of the 20th century and the relics were actually kept by the Banks family at Oxney Court. The Romans had made their camps in these locations and were unsuccessfully attacked at night by the local inhabitants with great loss of life. These conflicts were just the beginning of the suppression of the indigenous British populace.
Oxney, or as it was originally known; Oxene, eventually developed into a small settlement or at least into a group of dwellings associated with a main house. Sir William de Auberville owned the Parish of Oxney at the time of King Richard I and in 1192 founded the Abbey at West Langdon, with St Nicholas' Church at Oxney being a 'chapel of ease' served by the abbey. This meant that the tiny church served the needs of the owners and workers of the estate. Besides the stone structure of the church there would have been some rustic wooden outbuildings for the one or two monks that administered it. These could have consisted of some sleeping cells, a refectory and kitchen and a cellarium. Possibly the main landowner's house was at the location of Oxney Court. Although the main part of the building dates from the twelfth century, fairly extensive alterations were made in the thirteenth century, including the rebuilding of the west wall with a large pointed arch window. At a later date three buttresses were added to reinforce this wall.

In 1535 the Abbey at Langdon was dissolved during the Reformation in the reign of Henry VIII. It was at this time that the royal commissioners ransacked abbeys, cathedrals and churches, removing any purported evidence of papistry and idolatry and many religious establishments were destroyed or given away as royal favours. The tiny settlement of Oxney lost its church, which was dedicated to Saint Nicholas. There has been mention of some sort of anti-religious backlash at Oxney, but I have been unable to find firm evidence of this. The subsequent abandonment of the building left it as an easy target for free building supplies such as the roof tiles and lead waterproofing. As a result, any wood structuring would have rotted away in very little time and any outbuildings would have crumbled away too.

It is recorded by Hasted that in 1759 the remains of the church had a thatched roof and it was being used as a barn. The adjacent dwellings had simply disappeared in the seventeenth century - was it as a result of plague or some other disaster? Most likely any dwellings here would have been associated with the church or nearby Oxney Court so the loss of the church and expansion of the big house would have made them obsolete. The stone walls of the old church survived a fire that destroyed the roof and any remaining wood structuring.

Following years of abandonment, the open ruins were re-consecrated as a family burial ground for the residents of nearby Oxney Court during the late nineteenth century. Apparently the grave sites were originally quite elaborate, some having carved alabaster busts of the interred family members, as well as the headstones and memorial slabs that survive today.

Saint Nicholas' Church at Oxney has probably faced a greater threat to its existence in the last thirty years than at any time since its original desecration in 1535. Vandals have caused harm to the walls of the original structure and there are disturbing reports of the headstones having been moved as well as damaged. It is even possible that dark rituals have been practised within the ruins in the past. The building has a Grade II listing with English Heritage and those causing damage or trespassing are liable to prosecution. I have just learnt that the ruined chapel of St Nicholas and its surrounding acres of woodland are private property and steps are being actively taken by the owner to protect the ruin from public access and any further vandalism.

Ghosts of Oxney Bottom

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