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Monument details

HER Number:TQ 63 NE 2
Type of record:Listed Building
Name:Church of St Mary, Lamberhurst

Summary

Church 14th and 15th century.

Summary from record TQ 63 NE 169:

Grade I listed building. Main construction periods 1100 to 1890


Grid Reference:TQ 6820 3658
Map Sheet:TQ63NE
Parish:LAMBERHURST, TUNBRIDGE WELLS, KENT

Monument Types

  • CHURCH (CHURCH, Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
  • SITE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1100 AD to 1890 AD)
  • CHURCH (CHURCH, Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)
Protected Status:Listed Building (I) 1084519: CHURCH OF ST MARY

Full description

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(TQ 68203657) St Mary's Church (NAT) (1) St Mary's Church, Lamberhurst, has a 15th c. tower and 14th c. work elsewhere. (2-3) In normal use. (4) No change. (5) 21/1 Church of St Mary, Lamberhurst. Grade B. Parish Church. Nave and chancel each with south aisle, western tower and shingled spire at end of aisle. South porch with 15th century outer doorcase, well moulded with tracery figures in spandrels, and a cross niche above. The buttresses and roof loft stairs on south side have gables, the windows two light 14th century. The nave is divided from aisle by four 14th century arches and the chancel from its aisle by three, in one of which was a stone screen with foiled piercings. The tower 15th cnetury, west window 15th century north windows 14th century. The roofs original, of usual design. (6) Lamberhurst Church, the first church is believed to have been a woodenchapel, erected in pre-conquest days. Nothing is known of the building of the present church but in 1119 'the church of St Mary, Lamberhurst with its appurtenances' was given to Leeds Priory. Rebuilding took place in the 14th and 15th centuries. In 1961 restoration took place when the church was re-orientated with an later against the north wall of the nave. (7) St Mary, Lamberhurst. Decorated nave and chancel with south aisle to both and south porch, all rubble sandstone. Perpendicular south-west tower of coursed sandstone, battlemented, with a recessed shingled spire, and a second abnormality, minus any west doorway. Architectural description. (8) Church of St Mary the Virgin. Report on excavations which took place whilst alterations were in progress (see (7)) and when some of the chancel floor was removed. The primary aim was to locate any earlier floor and to investigate the base of one of the Decorated octagonal pillars which form the arcade opening to the Scotney Chapel. (9) Listed Grade I. (10)

Description from record TQ 63 NE 169:
The following text is from the original listed building designation:
LAMBERHURST CHURCH ROAD TQ 63 NE (south side) 3/135 Church of St.Mary 20.10.54 GV I
Parish church. Chancel C12, extended C13, nave C14 and C15 tower, restored c.1870 by Ewan Christian (with Edward Hussey's interest if not involvenent). Rubble sandstone and plain tiled roofs. Chancel and nave each with south aisle, and south western tower and south porch. Each section of the church separately roofed. Nave with offset corner buttresses and 2 light and quatrefoil C14 fenestration throughout, except west window, a 5 light Perpendicular design. Two stage tower with offset corner buttresses, battlements and recessed shingled spire and south western stair turret. South porch with angle buttresses and restored square headed door surround with quatrefoil spandrel enrichment and roll moulded doorway, and anchor ties seemingly lettered A I I. Crown post roof inside porch. Chancel and chapel fenestrated as nave except for eastern lancet in north wall and reticulated chapel east window and Perpendicular style chancel east window. Interior: four bay C14 nave arcade with double chamfered arches on octagonal piers and similar tower arch and chancel and chapel arches. Crown post roofs. Later C14 three bay chancel arcade, the eastern arch set lower, and remains of an eastern C13 arch, much lower than the arcade, and part of evidence gathered at restoration of 1870s that the chancel extended further east and downslope before C14. Fittings: some C14 encaustic tiles in south chapel. Piscina and sedilia incorporated into chancel arcade. Three tier pulpit, dated 1630, with tester and with unusually rich arcaded enrichment, the lower tiers made up C19 from old and reproduction panelling. Royal Arms of Queen Anne over south door, originally the top of an C18 reredos, enriched with urns and putti in clouds. Series of wall monuments, the most notable a black and white aedicule to Richard Thomas d.1657, and the series of marble plaques to the Husseys in the south (Scotney) chapel, including those of Edward Hussey, d.1894 and the late Christopher Hussey, d.1970. See B.O.E. Kent, 1, 364; also V. Morland, The Church in Lamberhurst.
Listing NGR: TQ6781936707


<1> OS 6" 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48369.

<2> Kent 1925 202 (J C Cox) (OS Card Reference). SKE45668.

<3> Churches of Kent vol 2 1913 27 (F Grayling) (OS Card Reference). SKE38996.

<4> F1 ASP 16-JAN-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42134.

<5> F2 ASP 22-OCT-69 (OS Card Reference). SKE43153.

<6> MLGP 2433/11/A Dist of Tonbridge Kent 1949 90 (OS Card Reference). SKE47224.

<7> Trans Battle & Dist Hist Soc 18 1968 22 (L C Gates) (OS Card Reference). SKE50622.

<8> Bldgs of Eng W Kent & the Weald 1980 364 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37876.

<9> Arch Cant 79 1964 lii-liii (C Lebon) (OS Card Reference). SKE35672.

<10> Field report for monument TQ 63 NE 2 - January, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3205.

<11> Field report for monument TQ 63 NE 2 - October, 1969 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3206.

<12> DNH List 10-Oct-1989 p.59 (OS Card Reference). SKE39775.

<13> Diocese of Rochester (Tim Tatton-Brown), 1994, Lamberhurst, St Mary:Diocesan church survey (Unpublished document). SKE29638.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
<1>OS Card Reference: OS 6" 1961.
<2>OS Card Reference: Kent 1925 202 (J C Cox).
<3>OS Card Reference: Churches of Kent vol 2 1913 27 (F Grayling).
<4>OS Card Reference: F1 ASP 16-JAN-63.
<5>OS Card Reference: F2 ASP 22-OCT-69.
<6>OS Card Reference: MLGP 2433/11/A Dist of Tonbridge Kent 1949 90.
<7>OS Card Reference: Trans Battle & Dist Hist Soc 18 1968 22 (L C Gates).
<8>OS Card Reference: Bldgs of Eng W Kent & the Weald 1980 364 (J Newman).
<9>OS Card Reference: Arch Cant 79 1964 lii-liii (C Lebon).
<10>Bibliographic reference: Field report for monument TQ 63 NE 2 - January, 1963.
<11>Bibliographic reference: Field report for monument TQ 63 NE 2 - October, 1969.
<12>OS Card Reference: DNH List 10-Oct-1989 p.59.
<13>Unpublished document: Diocese of Rochester (Tim Tatton-Brown). 1994. Lamberhurst, St Mary:Diocesan church survey.