Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Built in 1869-70 as a chapel-of-ease to the parish church of Horsmonden, it became redundant and was acquired by the Catholic church in 1970, and reopened in 1972. Three-bay nave with projecting south porch, narrower apsidalended chancel, north organ-chamber and vestry.

Monument Types

• CHAPEL OF EASE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1870 AD to 1970 AD)
• ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH (Modern - 1972 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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From the National Heritage List for England:

All Saints Roman Catholic Church was built in 1869-70 as an Anglican chapel-of-ease to the parish church at Horsmonden by the architect Robert Wheeler of Brenchley.

Details
DATE: 1869-70 in Early English Gothic style, architect Robert Wheeler of Brenchley.

MATERIALS: polychrome brickwork in English bond, mainly yellow brick with bands of red and black brick, red brick double modillion cornice and stone window heads and cills. Tiled roof.

PLAN: 3 bay nave with projecting south porch, slightly narrower two-bay apsidal-ended chancel and north organ chamber and vestry.

EXTERIOR: the nave west end has a cinquefoil light above two tall trefoil-headed windows. The north and south sides have paired lancet windows with trefoil heads with leaded lights, separated by buttresses, and the south side has a penticed porch. The chancel has six single lancet windows with trefoil heads and the apex of the roof has a lead cross finial. The north vestry is lower than the main body of the church and has a triple window with rectangular lights facing east and a gable end facing north which has a two-light window and an arched doorcase with a plank door, panelled on the inside.

INTERIOR: the walls have exposed polychromatic brickwork in English bond, mainly red brick with bands and arched voussoirs picked out in black brick. The nave has a barrel-vaulted roof, a tiled floor of alternate red and black tiles and original open-backed pews. Opposite the south door is a font with a square bowl with incised roundels on a cylindrical base with corner colonnettes. The wooden font cover has circular metal decoration and handle. The canted pulpit has a red brick base with a carved stone top including double panels of black marble and colonnettes of red marble and is surmounted by a brass lectern. The chancel arch is of two main orders, supported on short stone and marble columns with stiff-leaf capitals which are supported by carved stone angel corbels. The chancel is raised and has a more elaborate tiled floor. It has a band of decorated tiles between the windows and the roof is panelled and painted to represent the starry firmament. There are ornamental iron railings with a carved wooden handrail and a double sedilia with trefoil heads divided by a stone and marble colonnette. The chancel windows have good contemporary stained glass. The organ is of 1870 by Thomas C Lewis and has a panelled base with trefoil decoration, the two right hand panels opening to form a door into the vestry.

History
All Saints Church was originally built as a chapel-of-ease to the Anglican parish church of Horsmonden and was located about a mile and a half to the north-east of the centre of the village to serve the northern part of the parish. It was built in 1869-70 and the architect was Robert Wheeler of Brenchley. The foundation stone was laid by Mrs Austen of Capel Manor and Kelly's Directory of 1882 notes the cost as around £1,600. It closed for Church of England worship in 1970 and re-opened as a Catholic church in 1972.

Reasons for Designation
All Saints Roman Catholic Church, built in 1869-70 as an Anglican chapel-of-ease to the parish church at Horsmonden by Robert Wheeler of Brenchley, is listed for the following principal reasons:

* Architectural interest: a simple but complete chapel-of-ease in polychrome brickwork, carried through into the interior;
* Fittings, fixtures and decoration: complete good quality interior of 1869-70 including font, pulpit, sedilia, floor tiles, pews, stained glass windows, painted decoration to chancel roof and organ;
* Intactness: exterior unaltered and a complete set of interior fixtures;
* Comparators: there are similarities in style, materials and survival of interior fittings with the Grade II listed Pembury Hospital Chapel, Kent, also by Robert Wheeler of Brenchley.

<1> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

Sources and further reading