Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1100 to 1599 (Rems of) Late 12th century; desecrated at dissolution

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1100 AD to 1599 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TR 34 NE ST MARGARET'S AT CLIFFE OXNEY
3/74 Church of St. Nicholas 22.8.66 II
Parish church, now disused and ruinous. C12 with C13 alterations. Flint. Nave and chancel, lost C13 south aisle. Chancel and nave with round headed lancets. West wall rebuilt C13, with chamfered pointed arched west window, and 3 large buttresses of later date. Round headed north door. Interior: blocked 2 bay south arcade, With double chamfered arches on stop-chamfered piers and moulded abaci. Simple piscina and aumbrey in chancel and water stoup in nave. The church, originally served by Langdon Abbey, fell out of use C16, and by Hasted's time was used as a barn (See Hasted IX, 410).
Listing NGR: TR3553444945

Description from record TR 34 NE 3:
[TR 35404688] St. Nicholas's Church [NR] (Remains of) (NAT) (1) The late 12th c. St. Nicholas's Church, Oxney, belonged to the Premonstratensian Canons of Langdon Abbey [see TR 34 NW 7] but was desecrated at the dissolution and subsequently became a barn. The ruins are scheduled. (2,3) This ruined church consists of a simple, unroofed, oblong building measuring 14.2m by 4.1m internally, the walling of flint with stone dressings standing to a height of 4.0m. The only evidence of subdivision into nave and chancel is a slight step marked by a line ofquoins on the outside of the north wall. A blocked arcade in the south wall indicates the former existence of s south aisle, some footings of which can be traced. The nave and chancel are probably early 12th c., the south aisle was probably late 12th/early 13th c. There are a number of graves within the ruins. (4) Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Oxney. Grade II. Now disused and ruinous. C12 with C13 alterations. The church, originally served by Langdon Abbey fell out of use C16, and by Hasted's time was used as a barn. (5) [For full description see list]. A study of the ruins of the church gives a construction date of 1170- 80. It appears to have become ruinous in the late fifteenth century. (See illustration card no 2) (6)

From the Register of Scheduled Monuments:

A small church of flint and chalk formerly comprising nave, S nave, aisle and square ended chancel without a tower. Arcade built up at a late date (17th-18th century) and most of windows altered then. Altered door in N nave wall which is largely Norman and contains one small original window and one single light of circa 1300. Shell of reduced church fairly complete, but eaten with vegetation, foundations only of S aisle. Said to have been desecrated on dissolution of Canons of Langdon, who held it. If so later windows belong to a secular use, perhaps a cottage. Memorial plaques and tombstones of recent owners visible. No trace of S aisle. Two ancient Yews at western approach.(8)


From the National Heritage List for England:

List entry Description
Summary of Monument
St Nicholas’ Church, 335m north-east of Oxney Court.

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 later alterations, St Nicholas’ Church survives well with a considerable amount of upstanding medieval fabric. It includes some well preserved architectural details such as the 12th century round-headed doorway in the north wall, round-headed windows and the arches and piers of the south arcade. The site is relatively undisturbed and has potential for archaeological investigation. It will contain below-ground archaeological and environmental information relating to the use and history of the church.

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 parish church surviving as upstanding and below-ground remains. It is situated on gently sloping ground in Old Wood, SSE of Ringwould.

The church is built of flint with stone dressings and is now roofless, although the walls stand up to about 4m high. It is rectangular in plan with a nave, south aisle and square-ended chancel without a tower. The south aisle is no longer upstanding but footings are likely to survive below-ground. The upstanding remains are 12th century in origin, although the west wall was rebuilt in the 13th century. It has a chamfered pointed arched window and is supported by three buttresses of later date. The church otherwise has round-headed windows. The north nave wall contains a round-headed doorway, one small original window, a single light window inserted in about 1300 and another blocked window. Internally the building is about 14m long by 4m wide. The interior includes a blocked two bay south arcade with double chamfered arches on stop-chamfered piers and moulded abaci. There is also a piscina and aumbrey in the chancel and a water stoup in the nave.

St Nicholas’ Church was built in the 12th century and originally belonged to the Premonstratensian Canons of Langdon Abbey. The abbey was suppressed at the dissolution and the church later fell into ruin. By 1800 it is recorded, in Edward Hasted’s History and Topographical Survey of Kent, in use as a barn. (8)

The upstanding remains are Grade II listed. (9)

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

<1> OS 25" 1958 (OS Card Reference). SKE48274.

<2> MHLG (2045/11/A) September 1960 20-21 (OS Card Reference). SKE46979.

<3> AM England and Wales 1961 59 (OS Card Reference). SKE33022.

<4> F1 FGA 12-MAY-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE42914.

<5> DOE(HHR) District of Dover 1987 33 (OS Card Reference). SKE41136.

<6> Arch Cant 59 1947 89-91 (FW Hardman WPD Stebbing and CH Gardner (OS Card Reference). SKE35306.

<7> Field report for monument TR 34 NE 3 - May, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5910.

<8> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

<9> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

Sources and further reading