MERSTON, a parish, joint with Shorne, in the hundred
of SHAMWELL, lathe of AYLESFORD, county of
KENT, 4miles (E.S.E.) from Gravesend. The population
is returned with Shorne. The living is a rectory,
in the archdeaconry and diocese of Canterbury, rated
in the king's books at £2. 13. 4., and in the patronage
of the Crown. The church, which was dedicated to St.
Giles, is in ruins, and its site is included in a plantation
of about five acres, called Chapel wood: there are
some traces of ancient fortifications. This place is
parochial only in its ecclesiastical jurisdiction, in other
respects it is part of the parish of Shorne.