St James' Church, Cooling was restored in the 19th century, when a vestry was added, and the porch was rebuilt. It was declared redundant on 19 November 1976 and vested in the Churches Conservation Trust on 31 May 1978. It is now cared for by a group known as the Friends of St James' Church. The church is open daily to visitors. The churchyard provided the inspiration for the opening chapter of Charles Dickens' book "Great Expectations", in which the hero of the story, Pip, meets the convict, Magwitch. In 2005 the musician Jools Holland married the sculptor Christabel McEwan in the church. St
The Charles Dickens School The Charles Dickens School The Charles Dickens School is a mixed high school and sixth form, located in Broadstairs in the English county of Kent. The school is named after Charles Dickens, the 19th century writer and social critic. It is a foundation school administered by Kent County Council, which coordinates admissions to the school. The Charles Dickens School has a non-selective intake, but does have specialisms in mathematics and computing. As part of this the school participates in the Faulkes Telescope Project. The Charles Dickens School offers GCSEs and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils, while students in