Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade I listed building. Main construction periods 1066 to 1899. Church comprising a Norman chancel and nave and Decorated windows. The nave has a 16th century octagonal weatherboarded bell turret at its west end surmounted by a shingled spire. The vestry to the north and south porch are both 19th century. 13th century wall paintings.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval to Modern - 1066 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
FAWKHAM FAWKHAM ROAD 1. 5280 TQ 56 NE 3/142 Church of St Mary 1.6.67 2. Norman nave and chancel with Decorated windows. The nave has a C16 octagonal weatherboarded bell turret at its west end surmounted by a shingled spire. The vestry to the north and south porch are both C19. Nave and chancel now rendered with stone window surrounds. The interior has bellcote supports of 4 posts braced at the top with pierced spandrels within the braces. C14 cusped arch in the south wall of the nave and another earlier one in the chancel north wall. C14 double piscina with cusped Y-tracery. C13 wall painting of Christ in Majesty in the nave. Some mediaeval stained glass fragments in the chancel south window. Hanging monument to John Walter (died 1625). Listing NGR: TQ5860566583 (1)

Description from record TQ 56 NE 21 :
[TQ 5970 6805] St Mary's Church [NAT] (2) The Church of St Mary, Fawkham, is Norman and later. (3) In normal use. (4) Church of St Mary, Fawkham Road, Fawkham. Grade I. Norman nave and chancel with Decorated windows. The nave has a C16 octagonal weatherboarded bell turret at its west end surmounted by a shingled spire. The vestry to the north and south porch are both C19. Nave and chancel now rendered with stone window surrounds. The interior has bellcote supports of 4 posts braced at the top with pierced spandrels within the braces. C14 cusped arch in the S wall of the nave and another earlier one in the chancel N wall. C14 double piscina with cusped Y-tracery. (For full description see list). (5) St Mary, Fawkham. Nave restored in 1959 by Pamela Cunnington. Timber Sporch. Norman windows or traces of them in the chancel N wall and in the nave N and S walls. The chancel arch has gone. Full architectural description. (6) The manor at Fawkham was presented to Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester, about 1120, but it is likely that the present church replaced an earlier Saxon one on the same site, as its proportions suggest Saxon origin. All four walls of the structure are Norman including three Norman windows and a Norman doorway. A C13th doorway was closed in 1892 due to the flooding of the valley. A wall tomb in the N wall of the chancel is probably that of Robert de Fawkham and dates c1220- 1230. There is a C14th wall tomb on the S side which may be William deFawkham. There is a double piscina against the altar on the S side dating from the C14th and fragment of C13th, C14th and C15th glass. The frescoes on the N side of the nave probably date from the C12th; they were overlaid with whitewash and later in about 1591, the Commandments and texts were painted over them. Most of this later painting has now been removed. (7)

<1> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<2> OS 6" 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48369.

<3> MHLG (2033/11/A Nov 1960 19) (OS Card Reference). SKE46968.

<4> F1 ASP 28-AUG-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE42331.

<5> DOE (HHR) Dist of Sevenoaks Kent Oct 1982 53 (OS Card Reference). SKE40322.

<6> The Buildings of England W Kent and the Weald 1980 284-285 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE50219.

<7> Dartford Dist Ant Soc 1 1931 15 (OS Card Reference). SKE39642.

<8> Field report for monument TQ 56 NE 21 - August, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE2889.

<9> Diocese of Rochester (Hugh Richmond), 2002, Fawkham, St Mary:Diocesan church survey (Unpublished document). SKE29621.

Sources and further reading