Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The ruins of a medieval church are located at St. Mary's, Eastwell. Due to recent collapse its remains were demolished all except for the 14th/15th century tower and the 19th century south west chapel. The west end of the church remains intact but roofless and the remainder of the walling survives only to a height of c.1.5m. 16th and 17th century tomb sculptures from within the church are now in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The church is owned by the 'Friends of Friendless Churches' and is Grade II listed.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1400 AD (between) to 1899 AD (between))
• MORTUARY CHAPEL (Post Medieval - 1800 AD to 1899 AD)

Full description

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(TR 00964735) St. Mary's Church (NAT) (1) The main structure of the Church of St. Mary, Eastwell, collapsed recently and its remains were demolished subsequently except for the C14th tower. (2) The W end of the church remains intact but roofless. The rest of the walling is reduced to a maximum height of 1.5m, except where incorporated in a small building lately erected within the SE corner of the church. GP/AO/62/298/6. (3) (TR 00964735) St Mary's Church (NR) (remains of) (NAT) (4) Eastwell Church (5), St Mary's, Eastwell (6). The remains consist of the West Tower, the West Wall of the South Aisle and the South-West Chantry Chapel with vault. The name footings are still visible (see illus. card). The fine C16th and C17th tomb sculptures have been removed to the Victoria and Albert Museum. the church is now owned by the Friends of Friendless Churches. Scheduled (5). The tower and walls have been repaired recently (6). (5,6) Church of St. Mary, Ruins. TR 04 NW Eastwell 5/12 27 11 57 Grade 2. Parish church, in ruins except C15 tower and C19 south-west chapel. Tower: flint and plaster and dressed stone quoins on weathered plinth. Three-stage offset diagonal buttresses. Double roll chamfer and dripmould to doorway (no door), 2 light Perpendicular window with cinquefoil over and string course to belfry with C18 2-light opening, and battlemented crown. North and south faces with single lights only over string course and belfry openings. The blocked arch to nave with octagonal piers. South aisle wall survives, of hammer-dressed stone, one 2-light window, and one 2-light with sexfoil over. At southern end a C19 mortury chapel, of chalk ashlar and plain tile roof, with cusped lancet windows, and vaulted interior. All interior fittings and monuments removed. (7) St Mary. Inset low down in the south wall of the tower is a knapped flint cross of unknown significance. Monuments removed from the church included the tomb-chest of Sir Thomas Finch, d 1560, and that of Sir Moyle Finch, d 1614. The latter was erected between 1623 and 1628. They are described as two of the finest figures of the period. (8)

From the National Heritage List: Parish church, in ruins except C15 tower and C19 south-west chapel. Tower: flint and plaster and dressed stone quoins on weathered plinth. Three-stage offset diagonal buttresses. Double roll chamfer and dripmould to doorway (no door), 2 light Perpendicular window with cinquefoil over and string course to belfry with C18 2-light opening, and battlemented crown. North and south faces with single lights only over string course and belfry openings. The blocked arch to nave with octagonal piers. South aisle wall survives, of hammer-dressed stone, one 2-light window, and one 2-light with sexfoil over. At southern end a C19 mortuary chapel, of chalk ashlar and plain tile roof, with cusped lancet windows, and vaulted interior. All interior fittings and monuments removed.

Summary of Monument: St Mary’s Church, 45m north-west of Lake House.

Reasons for Designation

A parish church is a building, usually of roughly rectangular outline and containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate to its use for Christian worship by a secular community, whose members gather in it on Sundays and on the occasion of religious festivals. Children are initiated into the Christian religion at the church's font and the dead are buried in its churchyard. Parish churches were designed for congregational worship and are generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provides accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which is the main domain of the priest and contains the principal altar. Either or both parts are sometimes provided with aisles, giving additional accommodation or spaces for additional altars. Most parish churches also possess towers, generally at the west end, but central towers at the crossing of nave and chancel are not uncommon and some churches have a free-standing or irregularly sited tower. Many parish churches also possess transepts at the crossing of chancel and nave, and south or north porches are also common. The main periods of parish church foundation were in the 10th to 11th and 19th centuries. Most medieval churches were rebuilt and modified on a number of occasions and hence the visible fabric of the church will be of several different dates, with in some cases little fabric of the first church being still easily visible.

Despite having been partially demolished, St Mary’s Church survives well with a large amount of medieval fabric surviving to roof level. There are many significant medieval architectural details such as the chamfered doorway and perpendicular window to the tower and the sexfoil tracery in the south aisle. The original ground plan and layout of the church will be traceable from the buried foundations. The site will contain archaeological information and environmental evidence relating to the construction, use and history of the church And the landscape in which it was constructed.
History

See Details.
Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 30 July 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a medieval parish church surviving as upstanding and buried remains. It is situated on gently sloping ground at the north side of Eastwell Lake in Eastwell Park.

The church has been partly demolished and is now largely roofless. The walls of the west end survive intact to roof height but elsewhere the footings are up to 1.5m high. The upstanding remains of the west end include a 15th century west tower, the west wall of the south aisle, and a 19th century mortuary chapel to the south-west. The tower is constructed of flint with stone dressings and quoins. It is supported by three stage offset diagonal buttresses. The west elevation has a drip moulded chamfered doorway and a two-light perpendicular window with a cinque foil over. There is a string course below the belfry of the tower. On the north and south faces are single-light windows above the string course. The belfry has two-light trefoil-headed windows with drip moulds and is surmounted by a crenellated parapet. Between the tower and nave is a pointed archway with octagonal piers. The south aisle of the church is of hammer-dressed stone and has a two-light window with sexfoil tracery. The 19th century chapel is built of chalk ashlar with a plain tiled roof. It has cusped lancet windows and a vaulted interior.

The upstanding remains are Grade II listed.(11)

Historic England archive material: BF051868 ST MARYS CHURCH, EASTWELL 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.

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

<2> MHLG (1886/11/A, July 1955) 31 (OS Card Reference). SKE46937.

<3> F1 ASP 09-MAY-1963 (OS Card Reference). SKE42017.

<4> OS 1:10000 1980 (OS Card Reference). SKE48166.

<5> DOE (IAM) Record Form & Plan 8 1 80 (J Geddes) (OS Card Reference). SKE40729.

<6> Anc Mons Soc Winter Newl 1980 2 (OS Card Reference). SKE33055.

<7> DOE (HHR) Boro of Ashford Kent Aug 1984 64 (OS Card Reference). SKE39816.

<8> Bldgs of Eng NE & E Kent 1983 309-10 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37761.

<9> Field report for monument TR 04 NW 7 - May, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5152.

<10> REMAINS OF ST MARY'S CHURCH AT EASTWELL FROM NORTH EAST (Photograph). SKE2581.

<11> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

Sources and further reading

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