Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1300 to 1881

Subsequently a residential house built in the 1980s following the church's redundancy in the 1970s.

Summary from record TQ 87 NW 1:

Medieval church

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval to Modern - 1300 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Description from record TQ 87 NW 1:
[TQ 8035 7659] St. Mary's Church [T.U.] (1) ST. MARY'S CHURCH is small. In 1274 it was a chapel of St. Werburgh's, Hoo. In the nave is an inscription dated 1412 (2). In normal use (3). Parish Church of St Mary. Grade II*. C14 with C15 tower and chancel rebuilt, probably 1881. (For full description see list) (4). Additional bibliography (5,6).

This feature is recorded in the English Heritage Historic Area Assessment of St Mary Hoo Parish. The report states: "The Church of St Mary may have replaced a chapel belonging to St Werburgh, known to have been in existence in 1274. Its earliest extant fabric has been dated to the 14th century…in 1881 St Mary's Church was partially rebuilt... Evidence of post-war decline in St Mary Hoo included the closure of the village school (in 1947) and the parish church (in the late 1970s); both buildings subsequently underwent residential conversion…The former parish church of St Mary (listed grade II*) lies at the centre of the village. This small unaisled ragstone building has a 14th century nave with a 15th century tower, the latter thought to be a conservative rebuilding of the earlier structure. In 1881 the church was heavily restored, probably by EW Stephens: this work included the rebuilding of the chancel and the addition of the present porch and vestry. The building was declared redundant in the late 1970s and underwent residential conversion the following decade. " (7)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
ST MARY'S HOO CP TQ 87 NW 3/76 21.11.66 Church of St Mary - II*
Parish church. C14 with C15 tower and chancel rebuilt, probably 1881 by E.W. Stephens. Ragstone with plain tiled roof. West tower, nave with north porch, chancel. West tower, unbuttressed, with small Perpendicular windows in top stage, the lower windows like rectangular loops. Nave C14, with unrestored C14 south-west window of stretched quatrefoil over two ogee lights. Interior: small west doorway rather than tower-arch. Tiebeam roof over nave with pierced spandrels; crown-posts. Now redundant and being converted into a house at time of resurvey.
Listing NGR: TQ8016378259 (8)

<1> O.S. 6" 1909 (OS Card Reference). SKE47817.

<2> 'History of Kent', vol. 4, 1798, p.25. (E. Hasted). (OS Card Reference). SKE44145.

<3> F1 CFW 09-APR-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42491.

<4> DOE (HHR) City of Rochester Upon Medway 1986 29 (OS Card Reference). SKE40169.

<5> Bldgs of Eng West Kent and the Weald 1980 503-504 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE38091.

<6> Field report for monument TQ 87 NW 1 - April, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4637.

<7> historic england, 2014, Hoo Peninsula Outline Historic Area Assessment: St Mary Hoo Parish. Research Report 2014-52 (Bibliographic reference). SKE31593.

<8> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Sources and further reading