Cooling, Kent – St James’ Church

For anyone with a love of Charles Dickens this church is an unmissable experience. The churchyard of St James was his inspiration for the opening chapter of Great Expectations, where our hero Pip meets Magwitch. Here, you can find ‘Pip’s Graves’ – the forlorn gravestones of 13 babies that Charles Dickens describes as “little stone lozenges”. The site is dramatic – on the Hoo Peninsula with marshes stretching north to the Thames estuary. Settle down in the church with a pork pie and some brandy or visit Rochester during the Dickens Festival, held each year in June.

Inside, the church is light and spacious. There is a 500-year-old timber door that still swings on its ancient hinges – even though it now leads to a blocked north doorway! Another quirky feature is the nineteenth-century vestry – its walls are lined from top to bottom with thousands of cockle shells – the emblem of St James. The monuments in the church walls and floor are a fascinating record of those who once lived here.

They include a slab with a brass effigy of Feyth Brook, who died in 1508 and was the wife of Lord Cobham, of nearby Cooling Castle. Charles Dickens fans should also visit St Mary’s in Higham, the village where the novelist ended his days while writing The Mystery of Edwin Drood.