St. Margaret’s, Horsmonden: Church of Jane’s Austen Ancestors

April 29, 2026 by Brenda S Cox

By Brenda S. Cox

“At the end of the sixteenth century there was living at Horsmonden—a small village in the Weald of Kent—a certain John Austen. . . . a man of considerable means, owning property in Kent and Sussex and elsewhere . . . including in all probability the manor house of Broadford in Horsmonden. . . . [His wealth was] doubtless derived from the clothing trade. . . . John Austen died in 1620, leaving a large family. . . . The fifth son, Francis, who died in 1687, describes himself in his will as a clothier, of Grovehurst; this place being, like Broadford, a pretty timbered house of moderate size near the picturesque old village of Horsmonden. Both houses still belong to the Austen family.”—Jane Austen, Her Life and Letters, 1913, chapter 1 [A “weald” is a heavily wooded area.]

George Austen’s family hailed from Horsmonden, a village in rural Kent. Its name means “horsemen’s woodland pasture.” It is 12 miles from Tonbridge, where George Austen grew up, and 29 miles from Godmersham, where Jane’s brother inherited an estate from their Knight relatives in Kent.

The Horsmonden church, St. Margaret’s, looks much the same as when the tower was completed in the late fourteenth century.

Inside of St. Margaret’s Horsmonden church. The rector gave the parish this brass chandelier in 1703. It holds candles.

Horsmonden Village

St. Margaret’s church is about 2 miles outside of the village. The village has been a center at various times for different industries. Their ironworks supplied weapons and ammunition for the English Civil War in the mid-1600s. Earlier in the 1600s, Horsmonden’s clothworks produced Kentish broadcloth, mainly as a cottage industry in weavers’ homes. The Austens were the “clothmasters,” living in homes called “halls” that combined private residences with offices and warehouses. Later the area became known for growing hops, used in brewing beer.

The Austens at Horsmonden

Flagstone on floor of St. Margaret’s Horsmonden commemorating John Austen I (1560-1620) and his wife and children, Jane Austen’s ancestors.

The first John Austen and his son Francis are buried in the Horsmonden church. As the historian who authored St. Margaret’s Church Horsmonden wrote, “This was the family, let it be noted, from which sprang the immortal Jane.” John Austen I was Jane Austen’s grandfather’s grandfather’s grandfather.

Railed tomb in St. Margaret’s churchyard for a number of Austen ancestors, with the letter A in the fence.

The Austen lineage:

John Austen I (Jane’s great-great-great-great-grandfather, Horsmonden)

—Francis I (great-great-great-grandfather, Horsmonden)

—John Austen III (great-great-grandfather, Horsmonden)

—John Austen IV (great-grandfather, Horsmonden)

—William Austen the surgeon (grandfather, Tonbridge)

—Rev. George Austen (father, Tonbridge, Steventon)

—Jane Austen (Steventon)

Stained glass window in St. Margaret’s Horsmonden, showing St. Paul and St. Cecilia, inscribed to the memory of John Francis Austen (1817-1893) and his daughters Georgiana (died age 15) and Charlotte.

Historic St. Margaret’s, Horsmonden

The porch, built in the fifteenth century, has many of its original timbers. It was used as a lych gate, where the coffin and coffin-bearers rested before a funeral. Before the Reformation, weddings were held there, and the first parts of the baptism and funeral services.

Brass flagstone at St. Margaret’s commemorating Rev. Henry de Grofhurst, rector 1311 to 1361, who directed the building of the church we see now. Earlier church buildings occupied the site from at least 1100.

A “parclose screen” from around 1500, inscribed in Latin, “Pray for the good health of Alice Sampson.” It would have screened off one of the smaller chapels in the church, which were devoted to various saints. This screen was likely originally painted in bright colors with gilding. Alice’s will (she died in 1508) requested that she be buried in the churchyard within sight of her home.

St. Margaret’s has had bells since at least 1528. Some of the current eight bells date from 1737 but were later recast. This photo shows their positions when not in use.

92 steps lead up to the roof of the tower.

We stopped about a third of the way up (whew!) in the ringing chamber.

A sign at St. Margaret’s celebrating the bell ringers who rang “a peal of 5024 Cambridge surprise major [a complex bell ringing pattern] in 3 hours 18 minutes” and commemorating the death of one of their members whose family included “a line of ringers unbroken since 1799.”

You can see where stone workers finished these Wealdon sandstone stones for the church. On one, someone inscribed his name in 1777. A little Georgian graffiti, apparently!

Stained glass window showing St. Margaret and Sir Galahad (I suppose because he was a knight/soldier) in St. Margaret’s Horsmonden to the memory of Major Simon Willard (1605-1676), who emigrated with his wife to the American colonies. He was the founder of Concord, Massachusetts and served as a soldier under Governor John Winthrop.

The baptismal font, where babies are christened and adults can also be baptized, dates from the early 17th century but was copied from one in the early fifteenth century. The designs on the side alternate between shields and floral figures.

I had to include this tombstone for a William Collins, died 1863, age 74, so he was born when Jane Austen was about 13 or 14.

This lovely organ at St. Margaret’s Horsmonden was built in 1837.

A little science from Austen’s time: A memorial in the church to John Read (1760-1847), a local man who invented a stomach pump (saving many lives), a fire escape, and “many other useful implements for the benefit and relief of suffering humanity. Of humble origins, he yet possessed talents which would have done honour to the highest station.” He used them for doing good “in submission to the will of the Great Creator.” Read’s Stomach Pump

St. Margaret’s Horsmonden Today

The parish includes over 2,000 people. Only about 40 regularly attend services in the church, while another 60-70 watch on YouTube. Many are in the church’s WhatsApp group, supporting one another in prayer. Much larger crowds, up to about 150, attend the church for weddings, funerals, baptisms, and holidays. On Good Friday they put up three crosses on the village green and have a large service there.

The church also hosts community events including concerts, popular speakers, and Jane Austen readings, and they go into the schools once a month to “open the Book,” teaching the Bible to school children. St. Margaret’s varies their services, offering traditional and modern communion services, family-oriented services, outdoor events, a café, and an informal worship time. Modern Anglican churches can range from very formal Anglo-Catholic styles to more relaxed evangelical styles. Horsmonden tends toward the more “low church,” evangelical approach.

The “living churchyard” of St. Margaret’s encourages a biodiverse habitat around the church. The church is part of Eco Church, “a Christian environmental movement encouraging church communities to make changes to their worship, teaching, land and buildings management, community and global engagement, and lifestyle *to reflect God’s care for the Earth*.”

St. Margaret’s supports a number of charities, both local and abroad, and encourages recycling and avoiding waste. Another notice board says the church is known for supporting the surrounding community and being welcoming, friendly, and prayerful.

Peaceful

Historian Anthony Cronk closes St. Margaret’s Horsmonden by saying:

“Today St. Margaret’s is essentially a parish church and a place of regular worship . . . it also attracts visitors from far and near. In this rural spot, away from the bustle of everyday life, one can spend a quiet moment savouring ‘the peace which passeth all understanding’. Jesus himself was referring to the need for this kind of occasional withdrawal when ‘he said unto them, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile:” for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat’ (Mark 6:31).

“Worship needs its focusing points in time and space; there must be holy places as well as holy days—places set apart for ever because of some association, hallowed by age-long custom—where people expect to find something inspiring and are not disappointed.

“One such place is St. Margaret’s, Horsmonden.”

Gentle readers, may you find such a place of peace and inspiration wherever you are.

Brenda S. Cox is the author of Fashionable Goodness: Christianity in Jane Austen’s England. She also blogs at Faith, Science, Joy, and Jane Austen.

All photos in this post ©Brenda S. Cox, 2026