Church of St Margaret is a Grade I listed building in the Ashford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 February 1967. A Medieval Church.
Church of St Margaret
- WRENN ID
- scattered-loft-mist
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Ashford
- Constituency
- Weald of Kent MP: Katie Lam (Con)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 14 February 1967
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Medieval
- Address
- Church of St Margaret, Bethersden Road, Hothfield
- OS grid reference
- TQ 969 445
- Coordinates
- 51.16608, 0.81584
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Margaret, formerly known as the Church of St Mary, is a Grade I listed building located on Bethersden Road in Hothfield. It is constructed from Kentish ragstone and features a chancel with north and south chapels, a nave with aisles, and a west tower topped with a shingled spire. The interior is notable for having no arches separating the chancel from the nave or the chapels from the aisles, and it consists of a three-bay nave.
The church contains medieval work from various periods but suffered significant damage from lightning in the late 16th century or early 17th century. It was subsequently rebuilt by Sir John Tufton, who died in 1642 and is interred within the church. The north and south chapels were added in 1876 during a restoration of the entire church. Notable features include a credence and aumbry, a cinquefoil-headed piscina, and traces of sedilia.
The church is historically significant as it is where "The Lost Chord" was composed and first played on the organ when Sir Arthur Sullivan was a guest of Lord and Lady Hothfield. The churchyard is home to several 18th-century stone headstones adorned with hourglass, skull, and cherub motifs, as well as oval bodystones.
Local climate
Church of St Margaret sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 87% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 63% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 27 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 71% of listed buildings. Of these, 13 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
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