Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1853 to 1855.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Post Medieval to Modern - 1853 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Description from record TQ 85 SW 59 :
(TQ 80525150) St. Mary's Church (NAT) (1) Parish church of St. Mary, Sutton Road. Grade II* 1853-5 in a late 13 C. style. (2)(3)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
LANGLEY SUTTON ROAD TQ 85 SW (west side) 2/103 Church of St. Mary GV II*
Parish church. 1853-5 in a late C13 style, by Butterfield, for Dr. Pusey's brother. Roughly coursed stone with ashlar window dressings. Plain tile roof. West tower, nave, south porch, chancel with lean-to vestry to east half and projecting organ bay and choir vestry to west half of north side, lean-to to west of organ bay and choir vestry, north aisle to nave, lean-to boiler-room to north of tower. West tower: 2 stages on low chamfered plinth, with moulded string to top of each stage. Broach spire with stone lucarne to north, south, east and west. Large 2-centred-arched window to each face of belfry, each of 2 trefoil-headed louvred lights with quatrefoil. Small single trefoil-headed lights towards top of lower stage; two to west, one to north and south. Tall narrow 2-light Geometrical-style west window with low cill and pointed head. Low north-west and south-west angle buttresses with beaded off-sets. South-east stair turret in form of large pilaster buttress. South porch: with very high plinth. Open timber-work to south with arcaded queen-struts and 2-centred arched door-head with solid spandrels. Wavy bargeboards. No outer door. Stone inner doorway in a C13 style. Decorative tiled floor. Nave: south elevation: no plinth. 2 two-stage buttresses alternating with 2 slender, 2-light pointed- arched, low-cilled windows. Chancel: no plinth to west half, but very high chamfered plinth to east half, returning round east end on its own low chamfered plinth. 2 south windows in a Geometrical style; that to west of 3 lights, that to east small of 2 lights, set immediately above plinth, with hoodmould and label-stops. East window set above plinth; 3 stepped trefoil-headed lights, quatrefoils and cinquefoil, with hoodmould and label-stops. Lean-to vestry: no plinth. Set back about one foot from east end. Two-light east window without overall architrave. Choir vestry: no plinth. Gabled. Two-light north window without architrave. 2-centred-arched east doorway with hood-mould and label-stops. Boarded door to west lean-to. North aisle: lean-to roof. 3 north windows; 2 outer windows same as choir vestry window, central window similar, but of 3 lights. Narrow rectangular stack to north-west corner, relating to boiler-room, with 4 pilasters surmounted by crosses. Boiler-room: quatrefoil window to west formed from 4 blocks of stone. Boarded north door. Interior: Structure: 3-bay north arcade to nave of chamfered pointed arches springing, to east and west, from chamfered rectangular piers with moulded imposts; 2 circular columns with bell capitals and bases. Pointed chancel arch of 2 orders, springing from attached bell capitals with tapering gadrooned corbels. Tall, narrow, pointed tower arch of 3 thick chamfered orders, the inner springing from attached bell capitals on plain tapered corbels, the 2 outer springing from wall; frames the west window. Broad doorway to belfry above tower arch immediately below nave rafters. Shouldered doorway to tower stairs and between organ bay and lean-to vestry. 3 broad, shallow steps between chancel arch and centre of chancel. Roof: scissor-braced common rafters to nave, with long ashlar-pieces and ridge-piece. Chancel roof of same construction, divided in half by extended trefoil-headed arch or canopy; both halves painted with finely- stencilled pattern, but east half boarded and more elaborately decorated. Fittings: C15 octagonal font with concave-sided bowl bearing Tudor roses and shields, set in north-west corner of nave. C19 crocketed font cover. Remaining fittings of Butterfield period. Doors to vestry, choir vestry and south porch. 2 pointed- arched pink marble sedile-type recesses with trefoiled heads, and jambs extending to floor, on south wall of east half of chancel, with adjacent piscina. Marble-topped wooden altar. Decorative iron altar rails with wooden handrail. Pentagonal wooden pulpit on stone base in north-east corner of nave, and complete set of pews and stalls designed by Butterfield. Decoration: single line of text printed in black and white beneath nave cornice. Scroll- moulded string round chancel, higher in east half than in west. East half of chancel decorated below string with pink marble and red, orange and black tiles. Floor tiles throughout church; plain colours to nave except round font, slightly differently arranged tiles in west half of chancel, and decorative tiles round font and to east half of chancel. Altar stands on plinth incorporating tiles finely patterned with intertwined roundels, small leaves and stars in deep colours. Stained glass: complete west window in a C13 style by Hardman, to Butterfield's design. Trefoils and quatrefoils to heads of all but east and south-east chancel windows, and including north choir vestry window. Designed with "dry-eyed clarity and force" (J.Newman, Buildings of England Series, West Kent and the Weald, 1980) and intact. Listing NGR: TQ8065951073 (4)

<1> OS 1:10000 1971 (OS Card Reference). SKE48156.

<2> DOE (HHR) Borough of Maidstone Kent 18 December 1985 67-68 (OS Card Reference). SKE39923.

<3> Bldgs of Eng-West Kent & the Weald 1980 365 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE38147.

<4> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Sources and further reading