Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Early 16th century Grade II* listed building. Church constructed in 1517 on the site of a chapel which was constructed in 1509, but burnt down in 1514. Unaisled nave and chancel without structural division. West porch and small timber bell cot over nave West end. The church is constructed of red brick with a tiled roof. The chancel was reroofed in the 18th century, and the whole church was restored in the 19th century, when the window tracery was renewed. The stone East window is 1884.

Monument Types

• CHAPEL (Medieval to Modern - 1509 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Listing Text:

633/3/82 SMALLHYTHE ROAD
08-MAY-50 SMALLHYTHE
(East side)
St John the Baptist Church

(Formerly listed as:
SMALLHYTHE ROAD
SMALLHYTHE
St John the Baptist's Church)

GV II*
The church was completely rebuilt in 1516-17 following a fire that destroyed the town. The chancel was reroofed in the C18, and the whole church was restored in the C19, when the window tracery was renewed. The stone E window is 1884.

MATERIALS: C16 brick in English bond, with stone tracery and dressings on E window. Tiled roof with small timber bell cot.

PLAN: Unaisled nave and chancel without structural division. W porch and small timber bell cot over nave W end.

EXTERIOR: The nave and chancel are continuous externally, and there are crowstepped gables at the E and W ends. Diagonal buttresses with off-sets at the corners and a pair of off-set buttresses on either side. The C19 E window has stone tracery in a Perpendicular style, and is set within the blocked, four-centred opening for the C16 E window.

The nave and chancel N and S windows have restored Flamboyant brick tracery with mouchettes and super mullions. The N and S doors have stone dressings, four-centred heads with hood moulds.

The W porch, an unusual feature, is also brick. The gable is stepped at the outer ends like small buttresses. The outer opening is of three orders with a hood mould. The outer two orders have square heads with continuous jambs, the inner is segmental. The central section of the middle order has been renewed. The W window is of five cusped lights with a transom in a four-centred head. There is a small statue niche with a four-centred head and square hood mould above. There is a tiny weather boarded bellcot over the W end of the nave. The W door is four centred and has hollow chamfered mouldings and hood mould.

INTERIOR: The interior is plastered and painted, and has a timber panelled dado. The windows are renewed in stone on the inside. There is no structural division between nave and chancel, but the C16 screen remains in its original position. The W end of the nave is screened off with a late C19 or early C20 timber screen to form a vestry. The chancel roof was repaired or wholly rebuilt in 1747 and has four slender A-frames trussed with straight braces and two tiers of staggered purlins. It was formerly plastered and retains nails for former laths. The very plain nave roof is C16 and is of the tie beam and common rafter type. The W end of the roof was repaired in 1982 with steel brackets.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES: The C16 screen is an unusual form, with a deep moulded cornice rather than cresting and is divided into wide bays with evenly spaced, narrow lights with cusped heads and carved spandrels. It apparently never had doors, and is very plain on the chancel side. The dado panelling of feather edged boarding with a moulded cornice is probably also C16 in origin, much repaired on the S side, but largely original on the N. C19 or early C20 timber reredos of blind ogee panels with cared details and a brattished cornice; similar design to choir stalls. C19 communion rail with timber brackets. C19 drum pulpit with open traceried sides. Small, octagonal font carved with quatrefoils on an octagonal stem. Nave benches of c.1900 with shaped ends terminating in carved roundels. C19 or early C20 carved timber screen at W end for vestry. Red tiled nave floor, C19 encaustic tiles in the chancel, mosaic floor to sanctuary. Some C19 stained glass.

HISTORY: The name hythe or hithe meant haven or landing place in Old English and Smallhythe was a port and major centre of ship building in the C14-C16 before the Rother silted up in the early C17 and changed its course. It now flows some way to the south. Henry VIII visited Smallhythe in 1537 to view progress on the construction of one of his warships. The town was devastated by fire in 1514 and the church was completely rebuilt in 1516-17. Dame Ellen Terry, the famous late C19 and early C20 actress, lived in the adjacent Smallhythe Place and her funeral was held in the church in 1928.

SOURCES:
Buildings of England: West Kent and the Weald (1969), 509.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
St John the Baptist, Smallhythe is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* A rare (and excellent) example of a complete Tudor brick church with some contemporary fittings including the chancel screen, W door and nave roof.
* The exterior, with its crow-stepped gables and curvilinear window tracery, strongly recalls North European brick church architecture and as such is a rare occurrence in Kent.
* The chancel roof is C18.
* It has historical significance as a reminder of the former prosperity of Smallhythe in the late middle ages and Tudor period.


[TQ 8935 3016] St. John the Baptist's Church (NAT) (1) The Chapel of St. John the Baptist, Smallhythe, dates to the early years of Henry VIII, superseding a chapel which was burnt down in 1514. (2) Chapel built 1509, partially or totally destroyed and rebuilt in 1514 in red brick. (3) In normal use. (4) 1715 SMALLHYTHE ROAD (East Side) St John the Baptist's Church TQ 83 SE 3/82 8.5.50. B GV 2. This church was licensed for services in 1509 but was rebuilt in 1517. The exterior is of red brick with crow-stepped gable ends. Renewed tiled roof. 3 traceried windows with brick surrounds. Buttresses. Brick porch with hood moulding over Tudor arch. Renewed tiled roof. Only the tracery on the west windows is original. The interior has a C16 wooden chancel screen and a renewed timber-framed roof. Victorian stained glass window. C15 stone font. Dame Ellen Terry worshipped here for many years. St John the Baptist's Church and Priest's House form a group. (5) St John the Baptist, Smallhythe. The church was rebuilt in 1510-17. It is of red brick, merely a chapel without a structural chancel. The east and west gables stepped; low west porch also with a partly stepped gable and a minute image-niche above. (6) Additional bibliography - not consulted. (7)

Description from record TQ 83 SE 262:
The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 1715 SMALLHYTHE ROAD (East Side)
St John the Baptist's Church TQ 83 SE 3/82 8.5.50.
B GV
2. This church was licensed for services in 1509 but was rebuilt in 1517. The exterior is of red brick with crow-stepped gable ends. Renewed tiled roof, 3 traceried windows with brick surrounds. Buttresses. Brick porch with hood moulding over Tudor arch. Renewed tiled roof. Only the tracery on the west windows is original. The interior has a C16 wooden chancel screen and a renewed timber-framed roof. Victorian stained glass window. C15 stone font. Dame Ellen Terry worshipped here for many years. St John the Baptist's Church and Priest's House form a group. Listing NGR: TQ8934230146 (9)

HE Archive material: BF039718 CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST, TENTERDEN 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.
OP29222 View of the east side of the road through Small Hythe, from the north-west, looking towards St John the Baptist's Church and Priest's House

<1> OS 6" 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48369.

<2> Arch Cant 30 1914 133-96 (AH Taylor) (OS Card Reference). SKE34984.

<3> Outline Guide to Smallhythe Church (Anon undated) (OS Card Reference). SKE48437.

<4> F1 ASP 11.02.63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42039.

<5> DOE(HHR)Tenterden Boro Kent June 1972 55-6 (OS Card Reference). SKE41405.

<6> Bldgs in Eng W Kent & the Weald 2nd Ed 1980 531 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37661.

<7> Notes on Tenterden and the four churches 1902 (J Ellis-Mace) (OS Card Reference). SKE47699.

<8> Field report for monument TQ 83 SE 4 - February, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4330.

<9> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Sources and further reading