Church Of St Mary

Church of St Mary

This is a parish church dating from the 13th to 15th centuries, with a restoration carried out in 1862. The building comprises a 13th-century chancel, 14th-century nave, and 15th-century tower. It is constructed of flint, with banded knapped flint and squared ragstone in the tower, and plain tiled roofs.

The church plan includes a nave with separately roofed aisles and a south porch, a chancel and south chapel, a truncated north-east tower (formerly a chapel and now the vestry), and a west tower. The west tower is the most prominent feature, with four stages, offset diagonal buttresses, two string courses, battlements and a south-west octagonal stair turret. A 19th-century west door is set in a reset doorway of around 1300, with attached shafts, double roll-moulded surround and hollow chamfered hood mould. The west window dates to the 15th century and has 3 lights with 6 over, single lights to the 2nd and 3rd stages, and a 2-light belfry opening.

The south aisle has corner buttresses and battlements, with restored early 14th-century reticulated windows. The lean-to porch has a roll-moulded and hollow-chamfered doorway. The south chapel is plastered without battlements, with a restored string course and 19th-century curvilinear windows. It is buttressed with corner buttresses at its east end. The east end dates mainly to the 19th century and includes a string course, corner buttresses, and a south-east window of 3 lights with 3 roses over. A blocked 18th-century keyed brick arched doorway is also present. The east window is 19th-century, with 3 lights and Y-tracery.

The north-east chapel, now the vestry, forms the base of the 13th-century tower. It retains restored lancet windows, one with Roman tile surrounds. The north aisle dates to the 14th century, built in roughly coursed flint with 3 offset buttresses, three 2-light windows with quatrefoils over and a plain chamfered north doorway.

The interior is notable for several key features. The tall tower arch is roll-moulded and hollow-chamfered on attached octagonal-capped shafts with a double hollow-chamfered surround. Four-bay nave arcades run to both north and south aisles, with double-chamfered arches on octagonal piers. The nave roof contains 4 crown posts with 2 mullioned clerestory lights. The north aisle roof has 5 crown posts, while the south aisle has a staggered purlin roof. The 15th-century chancel arch is double-chamfered. The chancel includes a rood stair door in its south pier and two plain arches through to the south chapel, which has a central square pier dated around 1200, scalloped with attached and crocketed shafts. A hollow tomb recess opens through to the south chapel. A blocked lancet is visible to the south-east, with a remnant of a lancet reveal to the north. A hollow-chamfered and double-roll moulded door opens to the north-east tower (vestry). The south chapel roof is an early crown post example with stiff-leaf carved wall plates and tie-beams.

Church fittings are extensive. A square piscina survives in the chancel, with an ogee-headed piscina in the south chapel and a cusped piscina by the south door. Altar rails date to around 1700. An 18th-century brass chandelier hangs in two stages, with 8 lights at the top and 12 below. A 17th-century altar stands in the south aisle with a mid-17th-century reredos of linenfold panels separated by balusters and decorated with foliage. The south chapel altar has a cornice and shield for a reredos. A bench dating to around 1500 in the south chapel features poppyheads with animal carvings. An octagonal font with a mid-16th-century tall fixed octagonal cover has foliated baluster columns and strap work with a Perpendicular crown. Two hinged panels allow access to the font. A mid-16th-century parish chest of massive timbers with strapped bands and a double lock is also preserved. Many floor tiles survive throughout.

The church contains several significant monuments. In the south chapel stands a shrine to Saint Robert le Bouser, a large marble slab on an arcade of 4 deep trefoiled recesses, erected around 1350 by Lesnes Abbey, patrons of the church. Also in the south chapel is a wall monument to Joseph Hasted, died 1732, grandfather of the Kent historian who died of a chill caught at his grandchild's christening. This comprises a grey marble sarcophagus on a black obelisk with a large rounded base. The chancel contains a wall monument to Sir John Brook, died 1594, featuring a kneeling armoured figure at a lectern in a coffered alcove with architectural surrounds, Corinthian capitals, a coved frieze with fruit, cornice, achievement in a scrolled panel and pediment.

Surviving brasses include William Monde (17½ inches) and John Sayer (8½ inches) of 1483 in the north aisle; Anne, died 1580, widow of Sir John Norton and also Sir John Brook (see chancel monument) and 2 sons (17 inches); Francis Holbrook, died 1581 (18 inches) with his 2 wives and 13 children; and Mary Brook, died 1600 (17 inches) with an inscription.

Wall paintings survive over the entire north aisle and in a tomb recess in the south aisle, dated to around 1340. Subjects include the Last Judgement, the Nativity and Saints Andrew, John, Paul, Peter and Margaret depicted in window splays.