Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

The site of Lillechurch has in the past been suggested as the site of a medieval nunnery. Building foundations and human bones have been found on the site but these are now believed to represent a chapel that once existed here, rather than the nunnery itself, which is believed to be the site at Abbey Farm, Higham.

Monument Types

• CHAPEL (CHAPEL, Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• HUMAN REMAINS (HUMAN REMAINS, Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

[TQ 72937306] Priory [GT] (Site of) (1) A priory of Benedictine nuns founded AD 1148 at Lillechurch and moved probably c.1310 to Higham [TQ 77 SW 8] as after this date. Lillechurch is not mentioned. Lillechurch derived its name from the little church of the original nunnery, the foundations of which may be traced in an orchard known as Chapel Field, where human remains have been found. The two fields in front were called Great and Little Fairfield; here was held the fair granted to the nuns. [TQ77SW8 Auty. 4] (2) The nunnery moved from Lillechurch to Higham at the end of the 13th C. (3) No traces of this monastic establishment were seen. The owner of Lillechurch Farm confirmed that the orchard is known as 'Chapel Field' and stated that foundations have been deteced from time to time in the area. (4) 'Lillechurch is the name of a farmstead in the parish of Higham, and while there is the possibility that a chapel once existed on this site there is not the slightest evidence avilable that any religious house was ever built there, nor that a nunnery was erected anywhere else than on the site at Higham known as Abbey Farm [TQ 77 SW 8] The confusion has arisen because the place was known in the middle ages by two names, Higham and Lillechurch'. (5) Earthwork banks of uncertain date were seen at TQ 7298 7305 to the east and at TQ 7287 7295 to the south of the present farm at Lillechurch. These earthworks may be associated with the recorded finds of building foundations and human remains close to the farm in the area known as Chapel Field. These banks have been recorded in AMIE Monument Number 1544005. These banks were mapped from Environment Agency lidar imagery as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (6)

<1> OS 6" 1931-8 (OS Card Reference). SKE48330.

<2> 'Kentish Pilgrims Land' 1925 p.95 (W.C. Finch) (OS Card Reference). SKE45972.

<3> Rec. 6" (R.F. Jessup 1936) (OS Card Reference). SKE49094.

<4> F1 AC 12-NOV-51 (OS Card Reference). SKE41791.

<5> The South-Eastern Naturalist and Antiquary 1954 Vol. LIX pp.3-4 8F.C. Elliston-Erwood) (OS Card Reference). SKE50514.

<6> Field report for monument TQ 77 SW 18 - November, 1951 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4302.

Sources and further reading