Church Of St Margaret

1. 5272 HOTHFIELD BETHERSDEN ROAD Church of St Margaret (formerly listed as Church of St Mary) TQ 94 SE 15/1 14.2.67 I 2. Built of Kentish ragstone. Chancel with north and south chapels. Nave with aisles and west tower with shingled spire. The interior has no arches separating the chancel from the nave or the chapels from the aisles. Three bay nave. The building contained mediaeval work of several periods but was badly damaged by lightning in the late C16 or early C17 and was rebuilt by Sir John Tufton, who died in 1642 and is buried in the church. The north and south chapels were added in 1876, when the whole church was restored. Credence and aumbry. Cinquefoil headed piscina and traces of sedilia. "The Lost Chord" was composed and first played on the organ here, when Sir Arthur Sullivan was a guest of Lord and Lady Hothfield. The churchyard contains some C18 stone headstones with hourglass, skull and cherub motifs, and oval bodystones.

Listing NGR: TQ9696444528