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
Cedric Charles Dickens Charles Dickens, he also worked to preserve the heritage of the George and Vulture in the City of London, which was frequently mentioned in "The Pickwick Papers", where Charles Dickens himself often drank, and which was threatened with demolition; and Gads Hill Place in Kent, Dicken's final home, becoming a governor of Gad's Hill School, which occupies the building today. In 2005 he appeared in the first episode of BBC Four's documentary series "Dickens in America" with Miriam Margolyes, during which he talked about what it was like growing up as a member of the Dickens family. Dickens suffered a