Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

Grade I listed building. Main construction periods 1200 to 1799. Early English, possible Norman, largely reconstructed after a French raid in 1380. Of the early 13th century the stubby west tower with clasping buttresses and quatrefoil belfry windows erratically punched in it. Of the same date or a little later the north transcept chancel and its miniature sanctuary better appreciated from the inside where there is a blocked west lancet and the sanctuary arch on shafts with stiff leaf foliage. This is an unusually complex scheme for a parish church, and it is sad that more has not survived. The post - 1380 work is messy. The church belonged to St Martin's Priory, Dover.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval to Modern - 1200 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

Description from record TQ 92 NE 1 :
(TQ 95762937) St. Peter & St. Paul's Ch. (NAT)(1)

The Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Appledore, probably developed in the 13th c. from an early Norman church.(2)

5272 APPLEDORE THE STREET (east side) Church of St Peter and St Paul TQ 9529 15/4 16.8.62. 2. Chancel with north and south chapels, nave with south aisle, south porch and west tower in 3 stages with crenellated parapet. The north chapel, now the vestry, with its own sanctuary and the tower are C13. The remainder of the church was rebuilt after it was burnt by the French in 1380, the north aisle being incorporated in the nave. Four bay nave with 4 crown posts on tie-beams with pierced spandrels. Piscina aumbry and stoup. Perpendicular font. The churchyard contains some C18 headstones with skull or cherub motif, some oval bodystones and some chest tombs.(3)

St Peter and St Paul, Appledore. Early English, largely reconstructed after a French raid in 1380. Of the early 13th century the stubby west tower with clasping buttresses and quatrefoil belfry windows erratically punched in it. Of the same date or a little later the north transcept chancel and its miniature sanctuary better appreciated from the inside where there is a blocked west lancet and the sanctuary arch on shafts with stiff leaf foliage. This is an unusually complex scheme for a parish church, and it is sad that more has not survived. The post - 1380 work is messy. The church belonged to St Martin's Priory, Dover. (4)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
APPLEDORE THE STREET 1 . 5272 (east side) Church of St Peter and St Paul TQ 9529 15/4 16.8.62.
I
2. Chancel with north and south chapels, nave with south aisle, south porch and west tower in 3 stages with crenellated parapet. The north chapel, now the vestry, with its own sanctuary and the tower are C13. The remainder of the church was rebuilt after it was burnt by the French in 1380, the north aisle being incorporated in the nave. Four bay nave with 4 crown posts on tie-beaus with pierced spandrels. Piscina aumbry and stoup. Perpendicular font. The churchyard contains some C18 headstones with skull or cherub motif, some oval bodystones and some chest tombs.
Listing NGR: TQ9576829283 (5-6)

Historic England Archive material: BF052964 ST PETER AND ST PAULS CHURCH, APPLEDORE File of material relating to a site or building. This material has not yet been fully catalogued. Copyright, date, and quantity information for this record may be incomplete or inaccurate.

<1> OS 6" 1962 (OS Card Reference). SKE48371.

<2> Arch Cant 64 1951 103-5 plans (F C Elliston-Erwood) (OS Card Reference). SKE35370.

<3> DOE (HHR) Boro of Ashford Kent Aug 1979 4 (OS Card Reference). SKE39810.

<4> Bldgs of Eng 1980 W Kent & the Weald 130-1 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37704.

<5> Diocese of Canterbury (Hugh Richmond), 2001, Appledore, St Peter & St Paul: Diocesan church survey (Unpublished document). SKE29592.

<6> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Sources and further reading