Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Mentioned 1282, destroyed by 1700.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (CHURCH, Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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(TR 15543491) St Nicholas's Church (NR) (1) Trial holes dug in 1954 on the site of the Church of St Nicholas, Hythe, exposed some fragmentary walling, one piece, about 3ft long and just over 2ft thick may be part of the south wall of the nave. There is no record of the building which was totally destroyed by about 1700. (2) "St Nicholas Churchyard" is shown on Hill's map (a). (The church is not). Leland mentions the church as one of four in Hythe "that now be clene destroied" and Livett gives an earliest reference to the church dated 1282. Hasted in a footnote to his quotation from Leland says that there are the ruins of a building at the south-west corner of St Nicholas' churchyard. In 1902 (c) an attempt was made to level the slope at the eastern side of the churchyard but as the ground was very insecure, the attempt was abandoned. It was found to be full of bones, but no building foundations were discovered. (3) The church dedicated to St Nicholas, represents one of the lost churches of Hythe. It is mentioned in the Lambeth registers in 1282. From burials discovered in 1902 and 1978 it seems likely that a graveyard existed on the east and the church further south. (4) Additional bibliography (5-14)

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

<2> Archaeol Cant 68 1954 216 (F C Elliston-Erwood) (OS Card Reference). SKE37236.

<3> Archaeol Cant 30 1914 257-61 (G M Livett) (OS Card Reference). SKE37221.

<4> Hythe Hospital Map 1684 (T Hill) (OS Card Reference). SKE44189.

<5> Leland's "Itinerary" (OS Card Reference). SKE46009.

<6> Pers comm Serg. Down (OS Card Reference). SKE48512.

<7> KAR 77 1984 150-155 (J Willson) (OS Card Reference). SKE45427.

<8> Ordnance Survey, 1858-73, Ordnance Survey 1:2500 1st Edition : 1872-1897, 1877/1:2500 (Map). SWX11831.

<9> Ordnance Survey, 1893-7, Ordnance Survey 1:2500 2nd edition : 1893-1898, 1899/1:2500 (Map). SWX11832.

<10> Ordnance Survey, 1905-10, Ordnance Survey 1:2500 3rd edition: 1901-1912, 1908/1:2500 (Map). SWX11833.

<11> Ordnance Survey, 1928-1947, Ordnance Survey 1:2500 4th edition 1928-1947, 1946/1:2500 (Map). Ske12644.

<12> Ordnance Survey, 2009, OS MasterMap, 2009/MasterMap (Cartographic materials). SWX15710.

<13> Wessex Archaeology, 1993, The Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project, Report No.2: The South West and South of the Thames [Vol. I - text] (Monograph). SWX6569.

<14> Wessex Archaeology, 1993, The Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project, Report No.2: The South West and South of the Thames [Vol. I - text] (Monograph). SWX6569.

Sources and further reading