Part of Lower Halstow in Upchurch

Concrete posts with H carved on one side
and U on the other can still be seen in the area.

Did you know that the area covering Ham Green, Bayford and the lower part of Poot Lane down towards the river was once part of the parish of Lower Halstow. How did this happen?

During the early eighteenth century the body of a drowned sailor was washed ashore at Bayford.

When approached the overseers of Upchurch refused to allow the body to be buried in the churchyard but Lower Halstow accepted. This led to the owner of the land at Ham Green and Bayford presenting the parish of Lower Halstow a gift of 150 acres of land in the area. It was returned to the parish of Upchurch in 1882 but residents living at Ham Green from the house known as Greylag across to the lower half of Poot Lane did not have ecclesiastical rights in the village until the early 1960s.

Concrete posts with H carved on one side and U on the other can still be seen in the area marking the boundary between Upchurch and Lower Halstow.

These days all of Ham Green, Bayford and the area in the lower half of Poot Lane belong to the parish of Upchurch.

It's amazing what happens during the course of history.

David Wood

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