Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1503 to 1699. Parish church constructed by 1200 with a tower which was constructed in 1503. All the church, except the tower was demolished in 1871. The church tower is of four storeys and constructed of stone, flint and rubble.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1503 AD to 1871 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 944 BURGATE (South West Side)
Tower. Remains of St Mary Magdalen's Church
TR 1557 NW 5/29 3.12.49.
II
2. All that remains of St Mary Magdalen's Church. 1503. The front elevation is stone faced, the side is of flint and rubble. 4 storeys having lancets with foliated heads. First floor has a double lancer. Ground floor has a doorcase with decorated spandrels. Cl7 memorials. A scheduled AM.
Listing NGR: TR1511757773

Description from record TR 15 NE 91 :
(TR 15125777) St Mary Magdelene's Tower (NR). (1) Dated 1503 - rems of St Mary Magdelene's Church (scheduled). (2-3) TR 150577 Tower of St Mary Magdelene's Church Scheduled No 34. (4) Tower. Remains of St Mary Magdalene'S Church. Grade II. All that remains of the church. 1503. (5) St Mary Magdalene: extant by 1200 (6a), pulled down 1871, but tower, built 1502, containing the, moved, Whitfield monument is still standing. No churchyard. (6) Remains of St Mary Magdalene's Church. Contains 17th century Whitfield monument. (7)
This church was unfortunately demolished in 1871 except for the tower. At this time parts of the late 12th century arcade that divided the nave from the south aisle was taken to St George's church which was being enlarged, with a new chancel, aisle and arcade.

Documentary evidence shows the church was in existence by the mid 12th century (Urry), and the now-demolished capitals and arcade seem to be of this date. However all the surviving remains, the tower and wall-fragments to the south and east are much later in date and probably relate to the documented rebuilding of the tower in 1501.

The tower itself was built with large blocks of Ragstone ashlar facing where it could be seen, that is on the whole of the north side and above the roof-line of the east side, but only at the very top on the west side. The upper wall on the south side is all of knapped flint. Since the bombing of the last war the whole of the west face of the tower has been exposed, and this shows rougher facing with much reused materials. Before this it was covered by a timber-framed building. The top stage of the woes holding 3 bells originally has flat cinquefoil-headed windows in all four faces covered by a square hood-mould (much worn in places). On the north face there is another cinquefoil-headed window, below the string-course, which light a ringing chamber that was entered from a still visible door on the south (there are traces of a spiral stair here). There was then a two-light cinquefoil-headed window above a contemporary doorway, both having square hood-moulds. These open into the ground floor porch area with above it a contemporary moulded beam ceiling. On the east and south sides are two-centred arches with deep hollowed mouldings leading into the nave and south aisle. The tower now contains the Whitfield monument and several other (now very dirty) wall monuments.

The north wall of the church seems also to have been rebuilt in the early 16th century. It buts the tower wall and had, from east to west (and shown in pre-1871 photos and drawings), a two light, the eastern 2-light window appears to have no hood mould in Petres drawing, another two-light and then a three-light window, all under square hood-mouldings. A much smaller cinque-foil headed window still survives, though blocked, at the extreme west end of the wall, butting the tower. There was also a continuous plinth along the north side of the church. There was a dormer window above the west end of the nave.

There seems to have been a single-pitched roof over both the nave and south aisle - the scar for this is still visible on the tower east wall. (8)

From the Register of Scheduled Monuments:

Isolated 15th century church tower. Church demolished a century ago and benefice united with that of St George. Square tower of Kentish ragstone ashlar and intact tiled roof. W face is blank. In E and S faces are wide arches to original nave and S aisle (or N aisle and nave). In N wall is doorway. Above this are one two light and two single light cinque-foil-headed lights. One such one-light in E wall above arch to church. Only 6 courses are ashlar, rest is flint.

Baroque monument of Whitfield family, dating from about 1680 was placed in the tower after the demolition of the church in 1871. There is a varying amount of ashlar in the faces of the tower with only the N face being entirely of ashlar. The S face is of flint. To SW is a stump of random ashlar and flint walling with traces of stair to a first floor doorway in S face of tower.(9)

From the National Heritage List for England:

List entry Description
Summary of Monument
Tower of St Mary Magdalene’s church, 30m north of St Thomas’s Church and Hall.

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. 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.

Parish churches have always been major features of the landscape and a major focus of life for their parishioners. They provide important insights into medieval and later population levels or economic cycles, religious activity, artistic endeavour and technical achievement. A significant number of surviving examples are identified to be nationally important.

Despite later alterations, the Tower of St Magdalene's church survives well with a considerable amount of original upstanding masonry including some significant medieval architectural details such as the cinquefoil-headed lights. The site will contain below-ground archaeological information relating to the construction, use and history of the church.

History
See Details.

Details
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 17 December 2014. The 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 the medieval tower of the parish church of St Mary Magdalene surviving as upstanding and below-ground remains. It is situated on the south side of Burgate within the city walls of Canterbury.

The church tower is four storeys high, square in plan and constructed of Kentish ragstone ashlar and flint. It originally engaged with the north-west corner of the church. There are wide pointed stone arches to the original nave and north aisle. These are enclosed with modern glass screens, which are excluded from the scheduling. In the north wall is a doorcase with decorated spandrels above which are one two-light and two single-light cinquefoil-headed lights. There is a single cinquefoil-headed light in the east wall above the arch to the church. The tower has a pyramidal tiled roof. Within the interior of the tower is a Baroque stone memorial of the Whitfield family, dating from about 1680. The walls of the church still survive as upstanding remains in places. To the south-west of the tower is random and ashlar flint walling with traces of a stair to a first floor doorway in the south face of the tower.

The parish church of St Mary Magdalene dates to at least the 13th century although the tower was constructed in about 1503. Much of the church was demolished in 1871. The tower was restored in 1974.

The upstanding remains are Grade II listed.

Further archaeological remains survive within the vicinity of this monument but are not included because they have not been formally accessed. (10)

Historic england archive material: AL2400/085/01 View of St Mary Magdalene's Church on Burgate in Canterbury, from the east This church was demolished in 1871, with the exception of the tower, which still remains. BF051856 ST MARY MAGDALENES CHURCH, CANTERBURY 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 1:2500 (OS Card Reference). SKE48196.

<2> MHLG (944/11/A 9 45 Mar 1962) (OS Card Reference). SKE47030.

<3> AM Eng and Wales 1961 59 (OS Card Reference). SKE33015.

<4> Eng Heritage SAMS Kent 4 no 34 31 Dec 1987 (OS Card Reference). SKE41592.

<5> DOE (HHR) City of Canterbury Kent Sept 1973 40 (OS Card Reference). SKE40102.

<6> CBA churches Comm Bull 25 1989 - compiled 1984 - 12 (T Tatton-Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE38775.

<7> Hist Builds Survey Cant City Council/RCHME 57021 of 21 (OS Card Reference). SKE43843.

<8> Diocese of Canterbury (Tim Tatton-Brown), 1992, Church Survey - St. Mary Magdalenes Church Tower, Canterbury (Unpublished document). SKE7563.

<9> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

<10> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

Sources and further reading