Graveney and Goodnestone Villages are found on a country road between Faversham and Whitstable near to the North Kent coast line. Surrounded by farm land to the South and East with marsh land to the North and West. Farmer's once quoted "We have been entrusted to protect the countryside."
Yet it is these very marshes North of Graveney that will now be developed with the construction of a major electricity sub-station to service London Array's wind farm in the Thames Estuary. For the very latest update click here. The two villages are so close to each other that they can mistakenly be thought of as one. Each village has its own Church, with All Saints at Graveney holding regular Sunday services through-out the year. But as with everything there is a financial cost associated with the running and up-keep of All Saints and one that the Church Authority might not be able to maintain much longer.
 
Goodnestone and Graveney Churches.
The church of All Saints’, Graveney, like so many parish churches bears evidence of twelfth century origin. The chancel arch, a simple late Romanesque work of around 1160-1170 is contemporary with the existing chancel walling. This is composed of fieldstone and flint, occasionally brought to course but generally rough in conception, varying in thickness from 765 to 935mm.
Sadly this rural village that was once inhabited by it's workers and their families is now just a ghost of the past. Caused by farming modernisation and the over priced housing market making it impossible for their families to remain. This has resulted in an influx of people who want the benefit of country living but with a large number not caring or taking part in village life. A recent example of this being an evening event attended by only 8 villagers.
Whilst facilities at the school have increased, for most adult residents of Graveney facilities have been lost with the closure of the village shop in 2001. Graveney has now become a row of houses along a country lane which will be London Arrays' main route to their planned construction site at Cleve Hill.
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Parish Magazine July 2008
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