Welcome to the Church of St Mary Magdalene, Cobham

Standing on hill in the centre of Cobham is the village's 13th century parish church which is dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. As we appreciated, the church's particular claim to fame is its pavement of fifteen exceptional monumental brasses in the chancel, which also accommodates the finely sculptured Elizabethan Brook tomb. In the midst of all the cultural heritage, I had to be very selective in my photography!

Like many village churches, the Church of St Mary Magdalene stands on ground higher than the adjacent main village street.

The Nave

The nave contains an interesting memorial on the wall and some nice stained glass. Of course, we were not subject to mistaken first impressions, for while the nave looked reasonably commonplace, it effectively guided us to what lay in the chancel beyond.

The nave looks quite ordinary ...




... with an (albeit interesting) wall mounted memorial ...




... and some nice stained glass.

The Chancel - Memorial to the Cobhams

The Brook Tomb is a table tomb of alabaster and black marble and has effigies of Lord Cobham and his wife. The Cobham family was established here before the reign of King John, who himself reigned from 1199. The tomb is dated 1558 and was restored in 1860. The tomb is regarded as a particularly high quality sculpture for Elizabethan times

Here are our long term residents, ...




... with their sons on one side, ...




... and their daughters on the other.




At one end of the tomb are these colourful and intricate crests, probably of husband and wife.
I'm not sure of the significance of the animals.
They seem to be keeping the feet of our long term residents warm.




Here is the lower crest in greater detail.




Here is the upper crest in greater detail.

The Chancel - Brasses

Fifteen brasses, dating from 1299-1450, form an impressive "pavement" below the Brook Tomb. Thirteen of the brasses date from 1320–1529 and commemorate members of the Brook and Cobham families. The pictures I took were dictated more by the available light and less by the subject.

Here is part of the "pavement" of brasses.




This brass commemorates John Sprotte, onetime Master of the College adjacent to the church.
We learn from the inscription that he died on the 25th October 1498.
To what extent the brass is a true likeness of John Sprotte we shall probably never know!

Goodbye

The time has come to leave these fascinating links with England's past. A last look at the nave, the church porch and the tower. Then we head for the adjacent "College".

Here's a last look at the tower, built from Kentish Ragstone.




From here, it's less than a stone's throw (metaphorically speaking)
to the College next door (on the right of this picture).

Thank You

These pictures were taken by me on Sunday, 12th February 2017, on the first of Helen's Weald Way walks from Gravesend to Sole Street, to the web-based description of which you probably will return from this, our visit to Cobham's Saint Mary Magdalen's Church. Thank you Helen for suggesting and leading this walk. Thank you all for your good company on this walk.