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 II listed building. Main construction periods 1280 to 1980. Chapel, built circa 1300

Monument Types

• CHAPEL (Medieval to Modern - 1280 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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

The following text is from the original listed building designation:

TR 15 NW CHARTHAM
Horton Manor Chapel
Horton
8/268
30.1.67
GV II
Manorial chapel, later barn and then oasthouse and storehouse. Circa 1300 nave with late C14 chancel and alterations to nave and 2 later C19 oasthouse additions. Built of flints partly faced with rough plaster. Former tiled roof absent at time of survey. Nave and chancel with bellcote to west end with 2 arches. No original window openings survive. To the north and east are late C19 oasthouses of flint with red brick dressings, one retaining pyramidal roof structure. INTERIOR of chapel has late C14 Reigate stone chancel arch and trefoil-headed piscina. Circa 1300 scissor-braced roof to nave and part of chancel and late C14 crownpost roof underneath were in a collapsed state at time of survey. Scheduled Ancient Monument.
(Source: Tatton-Brown T: The topography and buildings of Horton Manor, near Canterbury: Archaeologia Cantiana: 1982: XCVIII: 77-105).
Listing NGR: TR1145355224

Description from record TR 15 NW 15 :
(TR 11485519) Chapel [NAT] (remains of) [NAT]. (1) Horton Manor Chapel dates from about 1300. In 1981 the building was in poor condition and ivy-covered, situated on the south side of the farmyard. (2) TR 115552. Horton Chapel. Schedule number 118. (3)

Formerly TR 15 NW 507

From the Schedule of Ancient Monuments:

Two-celled chapel, probably early 15th century and of one period only. Mixed chiefly flint-rubble with ashlar dressings. W bellcote for two bells. Diagonal angle buttresses. Now a barn and N wall mutilated for communication with adjoining barn, all windows destroyed and floor inserted but otherwise almost complete; chancel arch, piscina and King post roof well preserved.
Unicellular chapel converted into an oasthouse. This was done by building onto the original structure three rectangular structures - one E of the chancel, one N of it and the third S of the S end of nave. The first two are of equal height with the main structure and have pyramidal oast chimneys of timber and tile. The third is a an enclosure measuring about 3ft high x 11ft long x 7ft wide, now completely roofless and possibly the remains of a lean to structure communicating with nave via modern square headed door. The chapel and extensions are all of flint, with tile roofs. At the W end there is an ancient bell-cote for two bells, no ancient window tracery or door mouldings survive. Interior of chapel has been divided into an upper and lower floor, the upper reached by a wooden staircase. In S wall of presbytery there is an elegant sharply cut arch recess which could be piscina. The chancel arch is perfect perp. The King post roof is not visible.

From the National Heritage List for England:

List entry Description
Summary of Monument
Horton Chapel, 42m south-east of Horton Manor House.

Reasons for Designation
A medieval chapel is a building, usually rectangular, containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate for Christian worship in the pre-Reformation period. Chapels were designed for congregational worship and were generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provided accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which was the main domain of the priest and contained the principal altar. Around 4000 parochial chapels were built between the 12th and 17th centuries as subsidiary places of worship built for the convenience of parishioners who lived at a distance from the main parish church. Other chapels were built as private places of worship by manorial lords and lie near or within manor houses, castles or other high-status residences. Some chapels possessed burial grounds. Unlike parish churches, the majority of which remain in ecclesiastical use, chapels were often abandoned as their communities and supporting finances declined or disappeared. Many chantry chapels disappeared after the dissolution of their supporting communities in the 1540s. Chapels, like parish churches, have always been major features of the landscape. A significant number of surviving examples are identified as being nationally important. The sites of abandoned chapels, where positively identified, are particularly worthy of statutory protection as they were often left largely undisturbed and thus retain important information about the nature and date of their use up to their abandonment.

Despite later alterations and additions, Horton Chapel, 42m south-east of Horton Manor House, survives relatively well. It includes a large amount of upstanding stone remains with some significant architectural features such as the bellcote, chancel arch and trefoil-headed piscina. The site will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the construction, use and history of the chapel and the landscape in which it was constructed.

History
See Details.

Details
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 18 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 a medieval chapel surviving as upstanding and below-ground remains. It is situated on a gentle north-west facing slope near the River Great Stour at Horton, ENE of Chartham. The chapel is built of flint with ashlar dressings and is a two-celled structure with a nave and chancel. It has a bellcote with arches for two bells at the west end. The walls are supported by diagonal angle buttresses. No original window openings survive. The interior includes a late 14th century Reigate stone chancel arch and trefoil-headed piscina. The roof has collapsed. To the north and east are late 19th century oasthouses of flint with red brick dressings.

Horton chapel was built in about 1300 and originally served nearby Horton Manor House. The chapel was later used as a barn and then an oasthouse and storehouse.

The upstanding remains are Grade II listed.(5-6)

<1> OS 1:10000 1975 (OS Card Reference). SKE48160.

<2> Arch Cant 98 1982 77-105 photos plans illus (T Tatton Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE36326.

<3> Anc Mons in England 2 1978 111 (OS Card Reference). SKE33053.

<4> HORTON MANOR CHAPEL (DISUSED) AT CHARTHAM FROM WEST. (Photograph). SKE2634.

<5> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

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

Sources and further reading