Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II* listed building. Main construction periods 1380 to 1899 14thc Church, much restored. Church. Completely rebuilt circa 1400, restored in 19th century. Coursed rubble stone. Plain tiled roofs. West tower, nave with north aisle, chancel.

Monument Types

• ANGLICAN CHURCH (Medieval to Modern - 1400 AD? to 2050 AD)

Associated Finds

• COFFIN FITTING (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1900 AD?)
• HUMAN REMAINS (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1900 AD?)
• FONT (Medieval - 1300 AD to 1400 AD)
• PLAQUE (Post Medieval - 1638 AD to 1639 AD)

Full description

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Description from record TQ 66 SW 6 :
[TQ 60736212] St Mary's Church (NAT) (1) Mainly 14th c. but much restored. (2) In normal use. (3) TQ 66 SW STANSTED STANSTED HILL 2/8 (east side) 25.8.59 Church of St Mary II* Church. Completely rebuilt c.1400, restored in C19. Coursed rubble stone. Plain tiled roofs. West tower, nave with north aisle, chancel. 3 stage west tower with diagonal buttresses. Low broach spire. Rectangular belfry openings. Tall lancet window on 1st storey on west side of tower over painted arched doorway, with drip-mould over. Boarded doors with strap-hinges. 2 bay nave with pair of 2- light mullioned windows, to left flat-headed, to right pointed- arched, both with drip-moulds over, to south. Single flat-headed 2- light window to north. 1 bay chancel with flat-headed windows to north and south. Pointed-arched window to east. All tracery restored, Interior: original tower arch, 2 bay north aisle and chancel arch, all on octagonal piers. Hollow chamfers on arches. Wooden chancel screen with ogee quatrefoils, possibly pre-dating present church. Rafter roofs. (4) St. Mary's Stansted. Various restoration campaigns in the 19th century. Discarded tracery built into the north wall of the churchyard. Complete rebuildings c. 1400 are not common in Kent. Chancel screen the row of ogee quatre-foils at the top appears to be old, and such a pattern would be older than the church. Full architectural description. (5)

An Archaeological Evaluation of the churchyard took place between 29 October and 6 November 2013. 2 evaluation trenches and several test pits were excavated ahead of proposed extension works. (7)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ 66 SW STANSTED STANSTED HILL 2/8 (east side) 25.8.59 Church of St Mary
II*
Church. Completely rebuilt c.1400, restored in C19. Coursed rubble stone. Plain tiled roofs. West tower, nave with north aisle, chancel. 3 stage west tower with diagonal buttresses. Low broach spire. Rectangular belfry openings. Tall lancet window on 1st storey on west side of tower over painted arched doorway, with drip-mould over. Boarded doors with strap-hinges. 2 bay nave with pair of 2-light mullioned windows, to left flat-headed, to right pointed-arched, both with drip-moulds over, to south. Single flat-headed 2-light window to north. 1 bay chancel with flat-headed windows to north and south. Pointed-arched window to east. All tracery restored, Interior: original tower arch, 2 bay north aisle and chancel arch, all on octagonal piers. Hollow chamfers on arches. Wooden chancel screen with ogee quatrefoils, possibly pre-dating present church. Rafter roofs.
Listing NGR: TQ6069161718 (9)

Description from Archaeological Report November 2013
"Due to the nature of churchyard archaeology, no definitive natural geology was
encountered across both trenches due to disturbance of the below ground surfaces by
recurring grave excavation. Instead, a moderate depth of rotated soil, associated with
grave excavation, was encountered sealing a complex sequence of undisturbed graves
along the line of both evaluation trenches. Whilst limited skeletal remains were
exposed during these investigations, evidence of undisturbed burials was examined in
four deeper test pits indicating survival at depths in excess of 0.9m below the present
churchyard ground surface. Clearly indicating continuous use of this portion of the
churchyard over an extended period, fragments of disarticulated human bone and
metal coffin fittings within the backfill of graves coupled with the surviving grave
monuments indicates this process had continued until the early twentieth-century,
though possible periods of abandonment were identified." (7)

An historic building record of St Mary’s church was undertaken in May 2014 and an historic building watching brief in July 2015, during the insertion of the doorway in the south wall of the tower. "A programme of archaeological excavation has also been undertaken, which uncovered 127 post-medieval inhumations, but no other archaeological deposits or structural remains. This aspect of the archaeology is covered by a separate report (ASE 2015)."(8)

"The church is of coursed flint construction, knapped square on the north elevation of the north porch, with Kentish ragstone quoins, plinths and other detailing. The tooling of some of this ragstone, particularly the porch quoins, is indicative of it having been re-used from an earlier building, presumably the previous church on the site (Plate 5). The same may be true for the few stones of various geologies which are incorporated throughout the structure (Plate 6). Their variety is commonly indicative of re-used Roman building material, which had again presumably been taken from the previous church on the site." (8)

"The pitched roof of the church nave appears to retain its original roof timbers, whilst the chancel has evidently been rebuilt, presumably during the 1883 restoration… Other surviving medieval furniture within the church is a trefoil piscine in the south wall of the chancel, and a simple octagonal font which has been relocated outside the church, and now stands by the porch (Plate 4)." (8)

"A short distance to the northwest of the present church lies a substantial lump of masonry, principally flint rubble with some roughly-dressed greensand (Plates 2, 36 & 37). It has been suggested locally as the predecessor of the extant church: a building is shown in this location in the 1885 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of the site (Figure 3), implying this lump does indeed relate to an earlier masonry structure… However, further archaeological investigation is required to establish whether the visible lump does indeed lie on coherent in situ foundations." (8)

Inside the church tower two 16th century glazed ceramic memorial plaques have been re-set into the south elevation.

"These were discovered beneath the medieval font, which prior to 1883 was located within the tower-space, which its itself unlikely to have been its primary location within the church. The two plaques are lead glazed and about 250mm square (Plates 22 & 23). They record the deaths of two children of Edward Woodden, constableto the Hundred of Wrotham in 1636: Elizabeth Woodden, d. January 8th 1638, and William Woodden, d. June 6th 1639. Rare examples of their type, they are the work of the Wrotham Potters, who were active between 1612 and 1739 (Kiddell 1954)." (8)

"The church and tower can be dated to the 14th century on the strength of the few Decorated features which survived the 1883 restoration: the porch doorways, the piscina, the quatrefoil window in the aisle, the diagonal buttresses of the tower, the curated tracery in the churchyard wall, and the style of the arcade and chancel arch." (8)

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

<2> M.H.L.G (2227/11/A May 1950) 94 (OS Card Reference). SKE46228.

<3> F1 CFW 27-AUG-59 (OS Card Reference). SKE42779.

<4> DOE (HHR) Dist of Tonbridge & Malling Kent 1984 15 (OS Card Reference). SKE40376.

<5> Bldgs of Eng W Kent & the Weald 1980 543-544 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37916.

<6> Field report for monument TQ 66 SW 6 - August, 1959 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3577.

<7> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2013, Archaeological Evaluation at St Mary the Virgin’s Church, Tumblefield Road, Stansted , Kent (Unpublished document). SKE31105.

<8> Archaeology South-East, 2015, St Mary's Church, Stansted, Kent, Historic Building Record and watching brief (Unpublished document). SKE32073.

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

Sources and further reading