Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Parish Church of St Mary, GII* Listed, part of the church is Norman but the majority dates from 1843-4 when it was rebuilt by J C and C Buckler in Early English style. (location accurate to the nearest 1m bsased on available information)

Monument Types

• SITE (Roman to Post Medieval - 43 AD to 1844 AD)
• CHURCH (CHURCH, Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Full description

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Parish Church of St Mary, GII* Listed, part of the church is Norman but the majority dates from 1843-4 when it was rebuilt by J C and C Buckler in Early English style. It is built on the site of a Roman extra mural, hypocausted structure which was first discovered in 1778 and then interpreted as a bath house (this interpretation has since been dismissed) and a possible Saxon church is also on the site. (1) Within the information provided about Dover in the Domesday Book, the presence of three churches in the town is noted, one of which is likely to be the Church of St. Mary. As a result of the dissolution of the religious houses in the reign of Henry VIII, many of the churches in Dover were abandoned to become ruins. The Church of St. Mary, along with the Church of St. James, were the only two that remained in use in this period and to which the parishes of the others were united. (3)

The oldest part of the present structure is Norman; the west tower is of an early 12th century date and three west bays of the Norman nave arcades go with this tower, plus one more north and south not in the same build, but different only in the simpler base moulding. Most of the original stained glass windows were destroyed during WWII but one original 13th century window has been reset in the south wall of the chancel. The remainder of the nave and chancel was largely re-built in 1843-1844 by J C and C Buckler in Early English style. The church is constructed of flint with stone dressings. West tower is square of five stages surmounted by spire with weathervane. Arcading on the west face, increasingly rich towards the top. Colonnettes with block capitals, arches with a series of scallops. Plain renewed west doorway with shafts. Aisles have lancet windows. Tower arch with recessed shafts and a roll. Round piers, scallop capitals and square abaci. Norman octagonal Purbeck stone font bowl but remainder renewed. 1638 brass and a good series of 18th century wall monuments and contains a set of 19th century pews. (4-5)

Numerous historic cartographic sources dating to the later Medieval and post medieval periods depict the location of St. Mary's Church in Dover, these include that byThomas Miles dating to 1580 (6) Thomas Digges dating to 1581 (7) William Eldred dating to 1641 (8), Foquet dating to 1737 (9) and the 1905 Goad fire insurance maps (10) as well as the OS 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th editions (11-14)

The GIS polygon associated with this record does not represent the full extent or curtilage of the listed building but merely defines the outline of the building. For further information on the extent of the listed building please contact Dover District Council.

Historic England Arcgive Material (15)

Hasted, E, 1800, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 9 (Monograph). SKE7835.

<1> Mr. Lyon, 1779, Archaeologia: or miscellaneous tracts relating to antiquity: Description of a Roman Bath Discovered at Dover. Vol 5 (Article in serial). SKE31972.

<2> Dr. Ann Williams and Prof. G. H. Martin (ed.), 1089, The Domesday Book (Monograph). SWX7210.

<3> Hasted, E, 1800, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 9 (Monograph). SKE7835.

<4> John Newman, 1969, The Buildings of England: North East and East Kent (Monograph). SKE7874.

<5> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<6> Thomas Miles, 1580, Proposal for Dover Harbour (Map). SKE31983.

<7> Thomas Digges, 1581, The State of Dover Haven (Map). SKE31984.

<8> William Eldred, 1641, The Platt of Dover Castle Towne and Harbor (Map). SKE31804.

<9> J. Foquet, 1737, Plan of the town, harbour and fortifications of Dover (Map). SKE31991.

<10> C. E. Goad, 1905, Kent Fire insurance plans sheets 1-7 (Map). SKE51666.

<11> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 1st edition 1862-1875): Landmark Epoch 1 (Map). SKE30964.

<12> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 2nd Edition, 1897-1900): Landmark Epoch 2 (Map). SKE30965.

<13> Landmark, 1907-1923, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 3rd Edition, 1907-1923) (Map). SKE30966.

<14> Landmark, Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map (OS 4th Edition, 1929-1952) (Map). SKE30967.

<15> Historic England, Archive material associated with Church of St Mary, Dover, Listed Building (Archive). SKE55363.

Sources and further reading

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