Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1480 to 1945 Church c. 1500.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval to Modern - 1480 AD to 1945 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 5272 LITTLE CHART PLUCKLEY ROAD Ruins of Church of St Mary TQ 94 NW 10/131 14.2.67. II 2. The only remaining parts of this building (which consisted of a chancel with north chapel, a nave with north aisle and a west tower, which was hit by a flying bomb during the Second World and demolished) are the tower, which was built by Sir John Darell about 1500; and part of the contemporary chancel. Tower of ragstone in 2 stages. Double cinquefoil window.
Listing NGR: TQ9339046963

Description from record TQ 94 NW 4:
(TQ 93464668) St Mary's Church (NR) in ruins (NAT) (1)

The church of St. Mary was destroyed by enemy action in the Second World War (1939-45) only the tower, built circa. 1500, and part of the chancel remains. (2)

St. Mary's Church, Little Chart, destroyed by a flying bomb August 1944". (Notice). Church ruins as described above. See Ground photographs. AO/61/185/5.: General view from NE; AO/61/195/1: Tower from SE; AO/61/195/2: Chancel from SW. (3)

Checked and correct. (4)

(TQ 93464668) St Mary's Church (NR) (remains of) (NAT) (5)

St Mary's Church, scheduled. (6)

5272 Ruins of Church of St Mary, Pluckley Road, Little Chart. TQ 94 NW 10/131 14.2.67 Grade 2. The only remaining parts of this building (which consisted of a chancel with north chapel, a nave with north aisle and a west tower, which was hit by a flying bomb during the Second World War and demolished) are the tower, which was built by Sir John Darell about 1500, and part of the contemporary chancel. Tower of ragstone in 2 stages. Double cinquefoil window. (7 & 8)

'An Inscription in Little Chart Church'. An inscription of c.1620 on a stone of 24.5 x 15.5 inches displays a plaque from the tomb of Sir John Darell, Knight, who died in 1509. (9)

'Notes on Helmets in Little Chart Church'. Two helmets which were originally used as Funeral trophies to two persons entitled to bear arms, who have been buried in the church. The helmets are both late fifteenth century in date. (10)

From the National Heritage List for England:
The remains of the parish church bombed in 1944 consist of mainly of the tower which is a notable landmark and the NE corner of the chancel. These and other walls which survived about a foot above the ground have been topped with cement to make them waterproof and look structurally safe. The perp tower, about 50ft high, is built of local stone with an arch of Caen stone, some tracery in the W window is almost the only surviving architectural detail. The floor of tombstones and modern tiles is overgrown with vegetation.
Ground plan originally of a single celled, aisles structure, to which N aisle was later added, can be traced throughout on line of outerwall. W door arch survives, flanked with 2 shields of arms. Details of contents of church now in new church, inscriptions etc.
The E face of the tower is ivy covered but the remaining faces are largely vegetation free. The W window tracery and shields at the W door are still visible. Nave and N aisle wall remains are ivy covered. Chancel walls are also ivy clad with tree growing out of top. Tombstones are stacked arouns the external chancel walls. Broken Victorian filling is still visible in chancel with weeds and nettles in between. E face of tower remains ivy covered. W window tracery is still largely level and elsewhere bushes growing against walling have been cut off above the root. There is still some moss and ivy on the ruined walling. Interior has abundant weed and nettle growth and vegetation covered the wall tops. Ivy is still apparent.

Summary of Monument

St Mary’s Church.
Reasons for Designation

A parish church is a building, usually of roughly rectangular outline and containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate to its use for Christian worship by a secular community, whose members gather in it on Sundays and on the occasion of religious festivals. Children are initiated into the Christian religion at the church's font and the dead are buried in its churchyard. Parish churches were designed for congregational worship and are generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provides accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which is the main domain of the priest and contains the principal altar. Either or both parts are sometimes provided with aisles, giving additional accommodation or spaces for additional altars. Most parish churches also possess towers, generally at the west end, but central towers at the crossing of nave and chancel are not uncommon and some churches have a free-standing or irregularly sited tower. Many parish churches also possess transepts at the crossing of chancel and nave, and south or north porches are also common. The main periods of parish church foundation were in the 10th to 11th and 19th centuries. Most medieval churches were rebuilt and modified on a number of occasions and hence the visible fabric of the church will be of several different dates, with in some cases little fabric of the first church being still easily visible.

Despite damage in the past, St Mary’s Church survives well with much of its tower and walls still standing. It includes some significant medieval architectural details such as the pointed doorway and windows in the west tower. The site is relatively undisturbed and has potential for archaeological investigation. It will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the use and history of the church.
History

See Details
Details

This record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a medieval parish church surviving as upstanding and below-ground remains. It is situated on a north-east facing slope near the bank of the River Great Stour, north-west of Little Chart. The church is orientated ENE to WSW and is about 30m long and 11m wide. It includes a west tower, a nave with a north aisle and a chancel with a north chapel. It was originally a single-celled aisleless church but the north aisle was added at a later date. The building is constructed of ragstone but is now roofless and only the walls survive. The west tower is about 15m high with a pointed Caen stone arch in the east side and two string courses above. In the west elevation is a pointed doorway, a large pointed window with surviving tracery including cinquefoil ornament, and a small single light window above. All have hood moulds. The angles are supported by heavy buttressing in this side. There are tombstones and Victorian tiles in the floor of the church.

The tower of St Mary’s was built by Sir John Darell in about 1500, although the church itself has earlier origins. In his ‘History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent’ (1798), Edward Hasted states that it was built by Peter de Bending during the reign of Henry III (1207-1272). The church was heavily damaged by a V-1 flying bomb on the 16th August 1944 and has since been ruinous.

The upstanding remains are Grade II listed.(11-12)

<1> OS 6" Prov Edit 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48391.

<2> MHLG West Ashford RD 1887/11/A Oct 1960 48 (OS Card Reference). SKE47186.

<3> F1 ASP 08.12.61 (OS Card Reference). SKE41994.

<4> F2 CFW 09.01.64 (OS Card Reference). SKE43212.

<5> OS 1:10000 1980 (OS Card Reference). SKE48166.

<6> DOE(IAM)AMs Eng Vol 2 1978 111 (OS Card Reference). SKE41459.

<7> DOE(HHR) West Ashford RD Kent Oct 1980 164 (OS Card Reference). SKE41222.

<8> Bldgs of Eng W Kent & the Weald 1980 382-3 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37881.

<9> Arch Cant 36 1923 131-142 (R Griffin) (OS Card Reference). SKE35038.

<10> Arch Cant 36 1923 143-147 (Maj V Farquharson) (OS Card Reference). SKE35039.

<11> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<12> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

<13> Field report for monument TQ 94 NW 4 - January, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4750.

<14> Field report for monument TQ 94 NW 4 - December, 1961 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4749.

Sources and further reading