Church of St George

Church of St George

A parish church of major architectural importance, dating from the 13th century with extensive additions and alterations in the late 14th and 15th centuries. The building was restored between 1888 and 1890 by R.T. Blomfield and again in the late 20th century. The tower is constructed of roughly coursed stone, whilst the remainder is built of mixed roughly coursed stone and flint, with the gable of the north aisle weatherboarded. The nave roof is leaded; the north aisle has a plain tile roof.

The church comprises a west tower, continuous nave and chancel with continuous north and south aisles, and chapels. A south porch with a parvis chamber provides entry from the south.

The 15th-century west tower stands on a moulded plinth in three stages, topped with battlements above a moulded string. Integral angle buttresses support it, whilst a polygonal north-east stair turret, also with a moulded string and stone-coped coping, rises taller than the tower itself. The belfry windows are of two lights with hoodmoulds; those to north and east have trefoil-headed lights with square heads, whilst those to west and south feature a quatrefoil between vertical bars. Small hollow-chamfered rectangular lights pierce the second stage to north and south. A 14th-century west window, probably re-set, displays cusped intersecting tracery with cavetto mullions, a moulded architrave and hoodmould. The west door is a two-centred arch with moulded architrave and square-topped quatrefoiled spandrels springing from attached columns with moulded capitals and bases, topped with a hoodmould.

The nave is lit by a clerestory of four blocked quatrefoiled lights to north and south. The late 14th-century south aisle stands on a moulded plinth with moulded string and plain parapet, supported by three buttresses and covered by a lean-to roof. It has no west window; three south windows comprise one of 19th-century date, one of late 14th-century date (restored, with two trefoil-headed lights, a sexfoil and hoodmould), and one restored three-light window with traceried design and cambered head.

The 14th-century south porch, integral with the south aisle but taller, stands on a moulded plinth with string and battlements. Small hollow-chamfered rectangular lights serve the parvis chamber to east, west and south. Diagonal buttresses support it, and a rounded, battlemented north-west stair turret nestles in the angle with the nave. The outer doorway has a chamfered two-centred arched opening with hoodmould, whilst the inner doorway features a two-centred arch with roll-and-fillet moulding and hoodmould. Medieval backing survives behind the door, and low stone seats line the east and west walls. A rendered quadripartite vault with exposed hollow-chamfered stone ribs springing from moulded corner capitals covers the interior.

The late 14th-century south chapel, possibly incorporating 13th-century origins, has no plinth but features a moulded string and parapet continuous with that of the south aisle. A pilaster buttress stands adjacent to the aisle buttress, with two further south buttresses and a south-east angle buttress providing support. The lean-to roof covers three south windows: two of 19th-century date in 14th-century style and one of two lights with a sexfoil. An untraceried east window of two trefoil-headed lights with cambered head and hoodmould lights the chapel.

The late 14th-century chancel, possibly with 13th-century origins, has no plinth but is gabled, with two buttresses. A clerestorey with two south windows of two trefoil-headed lights and three quatrefoiled north lights illuminates it. A two-centred arched east window of five narrow uncusped cavetto-moulded lights with hoodmould forms the eastern termination.

The late 14th-century north chapel, also possibly with 13th-century origins, stands on a high plinth that slightly overlaps the chancel and steps down under the window. A blocked 15th-century west window of five stepped trefoil-headed lights with tracery above, cambered head and hoodmould survives. The north elevation of the north chapel and north aisle is continuous, with the wall battered towards the base. A moulded plinth resumes to west of the north door. A north-east angle buttress and six evenly-spaced north buttresses support the elevations. A moulded string and continuous stone-coped parapet crown the walls. The chapel has a lean-to roof; the aisle a double-pitched, gabled roof. A circular north-west stair turret, also on plinth with string and stone-coped parapet but taller than the aisle, has a chamfered doorway leading onto the aisle roof. Six windows, evenly spaced between buttresses (four to east and two to west of the north door), display varied tracery patterns and hoodmoulds, with two restored in the 19th century. A two-centred arched north door, also between buttresses, features a moulded architrave and hoodmould. A finely carved 14th-century west window of three trefoil-headed lights with a cascade of mouchettes above and hoodmould adds distinction to the elevation.

Interior Structure

The interior is dominated by continuous late 14th-century seven-bay north and south arcades to nave and chancel, with pointed arches of two hollow-chamfered orders carried on octagonal columns with moulded capitals and bases. A tall 15th-century moulded tower arch, with one attached column either side with moulded capitals and bases, marks the junction with the tower. A moulded 13th-century semi-circular column base abuts the east wall of the chancel towards the north side. A low stone seat, possibly the base of an earlier wall, runs along part of the south wall of the south chapel. A three-centred arched moulded stone doorway with broach stops opens to the tower stair turret. A moulded elliptical arched stone doorway serves the north aisle stair turret. A chamfered doorway with broach stops and pointed arched head provides access to the parvis chamber stairs. The remains of a piscina with a cusped ogee head survive in the south wall of the south chapel. A pointed arched stoup beside the south door features cushion stops and a very deep quatrefoiled basin with sunk panel to its outer face.

Roof Structure

The nave is covered by a king-and-queen-post roof, an unusual design for Kent. Five king-posts with moulded capitals and bases carry heavy upward braces. A broad ridge-piece runs the length, with a single continuous purlin to each side. Queen-posts with braces to the purlin and, elongated, to the rafter above, form a distorted arch with the king-post braces. Chamfered tie-beams with braced pendant posts complete the system.

The chancel has a king-and-queen-strut roof, also unusual for Kent and possibly not medieval. Four short, heavily braced, rebated, broach-stopped king-posts carry a broad chamfered ridge-piece. Two tiers of continuous purlins are sandwiched over tie-beams between outer and inner rafters. The inner rafters stop short of the tie-beam ends and are pegged at their tops into the undersides of the braces from king-posts to outer rafters. Heavy cambered, slightly moulded tie-beams are braced to short pendant posts. Very short curved queen-struts connect the tie-beams to the inner rafters.

The south aisle, south chapel and north chapel have staggered butt purlins, some moulded. One principal rafter in the south aisle bears a painter's mark dated 1703: IS RR C W. The north aisle roof is plastered.

Fittings

An octagonal font with moulded plinth on two octagonal steps, probably of late 14th or 15th-century date, occupies the nave. Two L-shaped stalls feature two-light blind-traceried panels with shafted arms to seats and mortices for screens on the backs. Traceried screens to north and south of the third bay from the east date to the 15th century. Altar rails with late 17th or 18th-century turned balusters and a 20th-century rail complement the fittings. A screen to the base of the tower arch, dated 1686, displays a spiked top rail and turned balusters above a boarded base. An 18th-century pulpit with fielded panels stands in the nave. Late 18th-century screens serve the north aisle. The central bay of the chancel features panelled north and south screens with chinoiserie gates said to have come from the Church of St. Clement, Old Romney. Royal Arms dated 1775 hang above the north door. Eight oval text boards are distributed through the nave, with the Decalogue, Creed and Lord's Prayer on four boards at the east end. An 18th-century panelled funeral hearse is also present. Fragments of stained glass survive in the east window of the south chapel.