The village church in Teston is dedicated to St. Peter and St.
Paul.
Although the original registers date back to 1539, the present
building dates from 1710. The church is unusual among others in
Kent for being in the classical style, reminiscent of some of the
city churches of Christopher Wren.
On one wall of the church, under a window, is a memorial tablet
to a former vicar, the Rev James Ramsay. He was the Rector of
Teston and Nettlestead from 1781 until he died in July 1789. He was
a friend of Pitt and Wilberforce and he worked with them for the
abolition of slavery. There is also a memorial to Nestor who was
Ramsey's black slave and companion from the Caribbean island of St
Christopher (now usually known as St Kitts). Nestor is also buried
in the churchyard.
To the west of the church is the cricket and hockey ball
factory, established by Alfred Reader more than 180 years ago. This
was the first cricket ball factory in the world.
In the middle of the nineteenth century, Thomas Martin began
making cricket balls in a workshop above the post office. When he
retired, the business was taken over by Alfred Reader who expanded
the business and transferred it to the factory. The factory was
built in 1927 on the Malling road. The workers at the Reader
factory formed their own trade union - The Teston Independent
Society of Cricket Ball Makers - to represent their interests. It
was the smallest trade union in the country and was only de-listed
in March 2006.
The cache is a 35mm film canister containing a log book and a
small pencil (So may be best to take your own writing
implement).
The cache is not located within the church grounds. Please
ensure that you hide the cache back correctly.
If anybody
would like to expand this series please do, I would just ask that
you let sadexploration know first so he can keep track of the
Church numbers and names to avoid duplication