Church of St Mary is a Grade I listed building in the Dover local planning authority area, England. First listed on 22 August 1962. A C12 Church.
Church of St Mary
- WRENN ID
- south-groin-bracken
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Dover
- Constituency
- Dover and Deal MP: Mike Tapp (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 22 August 1962
- Type
- Church
- Address
- Church of St Mary, Capel-Le-Ferne
- OS grid reference
- TR 257 400
- Coordinates
- 51.11498, 1.22354
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Church of St Mary is a parish church, now redundant, dating back to the 12th century. It incorporates elements from the 13th, 14th, and 15th centuries, with a restoration undertaken in 1890. The building is constructed from flint and has a plain tiled roof. It consists of a nave, chancel, a west tower, and a south porch.
The two-stage west tower features double offset angle buttresses, two string courses, and a parapet. It has a west doorway with a slightly billet moulded chamfered arch. The fenestration throughout is predominantly 15th century, although a 14th-century light remains in the north nave wall, featuring quatrefoils, and a small 12th-century round-headed lancet is also visible in the north nave wall. A large, plain gabled porch from the 14th century is located on the south side.
Inside, the church has undergone remarkably little restoration. A simple chamfered tower arch sits on coved abaci, and the ceiling features a 13th-century roof with three crown posts. A 14th-century stone screen separates the chancel, containing a large round-headed chamfered opening high in the wall – originally used to silhouette a rood cross. Below this is a three-bay arcade with octagonal piers, moulded capitals and bases, and double hollow chamfered and roll moulded arches. Drip mould or carved head corbels are also present. Four moulded corbels above the arcade originally supported the rood screen, in conjunction with light from the surviving 14th-century window head in the north nave wall. The chancel has a similar treatment to the screen and a roof with three crown posts on a moulded wall plate.
Notable fittings include large moulded corbels on the north and east chancel walls, an aumbrey on the north wall, a simple chamfered sedile with a depressed arch, and a trefoil-headed piscina with a Bethersden marble angle shaft, a 13th-century feature. The reveal of a 12th-century nave window displays painted foliage decoration. Fragments of medieval glass are found within the east window. An octagonal font stands on a hollow chamfered octagonal stem.
A brass memorial is reset on a wooden wall plaque in the chancel, depicting John Gybbis, who died in 1526, and his wife, with figures, a shield, and four children. A white marble wall plaque commemorates General Sir Charles William Dunbar Staveley, who died in 1896, depicting him in military attire with battle honours and a sword.
Local climate
Church of St Mary receives an average of 770 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 63% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 79% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 12 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 89% of listed buildings. Of these, 7 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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- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
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