Church Visit to St Mary The Virgin Bocking 9th March 2026
Yesterday the church group visited St Mary The Virgin in Bocking and we were given a potted history of the church by The Very Rev’D Canon Rod Reid.
A grade1 listed Anglican church 15th /16th century of 1000 years old.
The church is built of flint rubble, limestone and clutch in the gothic style.
The oldest part is the chancel (circa 1340) then came the Tower 1415, Arcades of the nave 1450, then alterations between 1490 – 1520 to the main church.
The name “Bocking” is said to mean either of the following: “ The Dwellers amongst the Beech Trees” or “Bocca’s people”. Bocca was a Viking god who was worshipped in this area.
In 995 a Saxon nobleman, Aethe(i)ric, bequeathed the Lands of Bocking to Christ Church Canterbury for use by monks.
Bocking is one of the parishes in the archiepiscopal peculiar (a group of parishes subject to the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Rector of Bocking, as the commissary of the Archbishop, bears the title “The Dean of Bocking”.
We got to climb up the tower via a narrow winding stair case that got narrower as you reached the top, stopping to catch our breath a third of the way up to look at the bells, a peal of ten were cast in 1682 of which only 5,6,7,& 8 remain, the two tenors were recast during the 19th century and Even though the weather was misty it gave you a good view.
