Church Of St Catherine

Church of St Catherine, Preston Lane

This parish church has pre-Conquest origins, though only loose fragments of Anglo-Saxon sculpture survive. The church is mentioned in Domesday Book as being held by Canterbury Cathedral, but no trace of that original building remains. The existing church evolved over several centuries: by the 12th century it had a south aisle; the southeast tower dates to the 13th century; the chancel was rebuilt in the late 13th century and remodelled around 1320; further work continued through the later medieval period, including widening of the south aisle. The church was greatly altered in the mid-19th century under the vicar James Peto (1837-78), with the south arcade rebuilt in 1853-5 to designs by R C Hussey, the north arcade, aisle and porch added in 1867, a new chancel east window inserted in 1854 designed by G Austin and said to have been intended for Canterbury Cathedral, and a new spire added. The church was refurnished in the mid-20th century.

The building is constructed of flint with stone dressings and has tiled roofs. Its plan comprises a chancel, nave with north and south aisles, a southeast tower with a rounded east stair turret, and a north porch.

The exterior was heavily reworked in the 19th century. The north aisle and north porch are entirely of that date. The chancel east window contains Geometric style tracery. The chancel north and south walls have 13th-century lancets, mostly renewed in the 19th century, and a renewed 14th-century window with flowing tracery appears in the western part of the chancel south wall. The south aisle has a low-pitched roof with south windows of two cusped lights and a late Perpendicular west window of three ogee lights in a square frame. The nave has a Perpendicular style west window and a 15th-century west door retaining much original masonry. The 19th-century north aisle has lancets. The 13th-century southeast tower is of four stages with a broach spire added in the 19th century. The half-round east stair turret is also a 19th-century addition. The 19th-century north and south porches are in a simple late 13th-century style with continuously moulded outer openings with hood moulds.

The interior is most significant in the chancel, the best-preserved part of the building. The lancet windows have shafted rere-arches, a continuous hood mould with headstops and a moulded string below. A very fine early 14th-century sedilia occupies the south wall, probably related to the insertion of the early 14th-century window above it and to an ogee-headed tomb recess in the north wall. The 19th-century east window also has a shafted rere-arch and hood mould with headstops. A tall late 13th-century chancel arch with head corbels separates the chancel from the nave, with a rood stair door in the south side of the arch. The 19th-century north and south nave arcades are late 13th-century in style, with chamfered arches on round piers with moulded capitals. A blocked window, possibly 13th-century, appears in the west wall of the south aisle, probably relating to an earlier, narrower aisle. The base of the southeast tower is enclosed and has a door with continuous mouldings into the nave. An organ gallery sits above the west end of the nave.

The principal fixtures include many notable medieval and modern pieces. An unusually elaborate piscina and sedilia of around 1300-20 occupy the chancel. The piscina has an ogee trefoil opening with foliage on the extrados and a foliate finial. The sedilia, harshly restored in 1877, has a vaulted canopy on shafts with foliate capitals and high polygonal bases. The gabled and trefoiled arches have been restored without ogees, but fine unrestored carved heads peep through trefoils in the gables, with further carved heads within the vaulting. The back displays Westminster-style diaper with traces of original colour. Some medieval tiles with geometric patterns appear in the chancel. A probably 15th-century ogee piscina occupies the south aisle. Late 15th- or 16th-century choir stalls with poppyheads, shaped ends and an embattled top rail survive, with the desk on the north side bearing much graffiti including several late 16th-century dates. A fine set of 1947 fittings by Martin Travers includes an excellent hanging rood, high altar, reredos, statue of the Virgin and bishop's chair. The south aisle roof is late medieval and has a panelled canopy of honour over the east bay.

One window containing fine 13th-century grisaille glass, said to be Belgian, appears in the chancel north wall. The chancel south windows are by Clayton and Bell, dated 1879.

Good monuments include a large and fine alabaster monument for Roger Boyle (died 1576) and his wife Joan (died 1586) of Preston, erected in 1629 by their son Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork, and made by James White. This features life-size reclining figures on a tomb chest surrounded by kneeling figures of their children, with that of the Earl also life-sized. Several brasses survive, including those for Valentine and Cecilia Baret (died 1440 and 1442), William Mareys (died 1459) in superb armour with surrounding inscription tags, and a female figure for Bennet Finch (died 1612) with an additional wall monument for her and her husband (died 1615). The chancel north wall contains an early 14th-century ogee tomb recess. Some good ledger slabs appear in the floor, including that of Charles Hulse (died 1678) with a coat of arms.

A loose fragment of Anglo-Saxon interlace ornament, probably from a cross, survives in the church.

The 'thick arches' in the south aisle removed by R C Hussey in 1853-5 are suggestive of pre-Norman work. The chancel was rebuilt in the later 13th century and was refitted with the fine sedilia and piscina in the early 14th century. The ogee tomb recess is probably connected with this work and may have been for the patron. The south aisle was widened in the 14th or 15th century and retains its late medieval low-pitched roof. The harsh restorations of the 19th century saw the complete demolition and replacement of much medieval fabric, typical of early Victorian restoration which often preferred new medieval-style work to the original. The Martin Travers fittings were a memorial to John Hankins Martin, vicar 1912-38.