Brenchley

"Brenchley is a village and parish in the lathe of Aylesford, and with Horsmonden gives name to the hundred in which it is located; the village, situated about four miles north from Lamberhurst, is a place of consequence only in an agricultural point of view. The parish is extensive, and contains besides its own village, the hamlet of Matfield, about a mile and a half distant, where there is a chapel for dissenters. The church, dedicated to All Saints, is a fine old structure of stone, with a lofty square tower; the benefice is a vicarage, in the presentation of the Courthope family."  Pigot's Directory

Administrative Units

Brenchley fell within the Hundred of Brenchley & Horsmonden. Its 19th century Registration District & Poor Law Union was Tonbridge.
Probate Jurisdiction was Rochester to 1845, PCC 1846-57.

Brenchley included the hamlets of Paddock Wood and Matfield.

Churches and Chapels (pre-1910)

Church of England

1. All Saints (Ancient Parish church) 
2. Paddock Wood, St Andrew Queen St.
3. Matfield, St Luke 

Baptist

• Baptist: Matfield chapel.  (1811). No information on registers

Wesleyan/Methodist

1. Methodist: Brenchley.  (1847).   Original registers from 1899.
2. Methodist: Paddock Wood.  (1888). No information on registers

For project purposes this parish is covered by Kent FHS.