Saints Peter and Paul Church in Headorn Parish, County of Kent, England

Although Headcorn does not figure in the Domesday Book of 1086, the Domesday Monachorum, the ecclesiastical survey made at about the same time, records the existence of a Church at Hedekaruna. According to the Oxford Names Companion, the name possibly means "tree-trunk (used as a footbridge) of a man called Hydeca."

Henry of Ospringe was appointed the first Rector in 1222 by King Henry III. However, in 1239 the King gave the den of Headcorn, with the rectorial endowments, to the Maison Dieu at Ospringe, near Faversham. In 1251 the Master and Bretheren of Ospringe were granted a weekly market on Thursdays and an annual fair at Headcorn on St Peter and St Paul’s Day, the 29^th June. In 1482 the Ospringe house was dissolved and in 1516 St John’s College, Cambridge was given the Maison Dieu properties. The fair was later held on the 12^th June, having apparently been merged with the trinity-tide fair of Moatenden Priory.

Although Headcorn does not figure in the Domesday Book of 1086, the Domesday Monachorum, the ecclesiastical survey made at about the same time, records the existence of a Church at Hedekaruna. According to the Oxford Names Companion, the name possibly means "tree-trunk (used as a footbridge) of a man called Hydeca."

The Order of the Holy Trinity for the Redemption of Captives was founded in France in 1198. Among the first of the dozen houses established in England was Moatenden Priory, off Maidstone Road, Headcorn, dating from 1224. In 1536 it was suppressed with the smaller houses and its revenues went to the King.

The prosperity brought to Headcorn by the weaving industry, established in the reign of King Edward III, is evidenced by houses built at that time and the enlargement of the Parish Church of St Peter and St Paul. Wat Tyler’s rebellion in 1381 was partly due to jealousy and dislike of the prosperous clothiers. In 1450 fully 80 men of Headcorn took part in Jack Cade’s rebellion and received pardons.

The chancel of the present Church is believed to mark the site of the nave of its 11^th century counterpart, and the Lady Chapel that of the 12^th century south isle. The 13^th century saw the construction of a new nave, about half the length of the present one, and possibly also a cell on the site of the Vicar’s Vestry, which dates from the early 15^th century. The nave was completed in the 14^th century and the present south isle in the early 15^th. Late in the same century the tower and south porch were built.

Kent’s Chantry was founded in the Lady Chapel in 1466 under licence from King Edward IV. In the south isle, just outside the Lady Chapel and in the south wall, is an altar-tomb bearing the Culpeper arms, which also figure over the west door. The font dates from about 1450.

This information is obtained  from the article about the Headcorn Parish in the County of Kent, England in Wikipedia