Church Of Saint Mary Magdalene

The Church of Saint Mary Magdalene is a Grade I listed parish church located on Monkton Street. It dates from the late 12th century and was reduced in size and altered in the 15th century. The structure is built of flint and rubble, with some areas rendered, and features a plain tiled roof. The church consists of a chancel, a nave with a north porch, and a west tower. The three-stage west tower has lancet windows, some of which are blocked, and the upper stage windows have trefoiled heads. The heavily eroded west doorway is topped with a hood mould. Inside, there are exposed jambs in the north wall of the nave and remnants of a demolished arcade on the south wall. The north porch was restored in the 19th century and features 15th-century fenestration, including a three-light east window with quatrefoiled heads.

The interior shows evidence of a demolished five-bay north arcade. The nave has a roof supported by four crown posts, and there is a double rebated pointed tower arch with moulded abaci. The pointed chamfered chancel arch rests on semi-circular responds with scalloped capitals and spurred bases. There are octagonal corbels, possibly for a rood beam, and a blocked rood loft door to the right of the chancel arch in the nave. The chancel has a roof with two crown posts. Notable fittings include a piscina in the chancel with a round arched head, a water stoup by the north door of the nave, and a fine iron wall safe in the south wall of the nave.

The pulpit, dating from the early 17th century, is pentagonal on a column and features arcaded panels, elaborate arabesques, a modillion cornice, Fleur-de-lys marquetry panels, and a cock's head hinge on the door. There is an 18th-century octagonal marble font. The church contains brasses, including a 36½ inch figure of a priest from around 1460 and a palimpsest inscription on a Flemish brass dated 1503 that includes part of a priest's robes. Monuments include an alabaster wall plaque for Francis Blechynden, who died in 1611, with enriched side pieces, and a wall monument for Thomas Denne from the early 19th century, featuring a large draped sarcophagus signed by Longley from Canterbury, along with a lozenge-shaped painted coat of arms. An early 20th-century wall clock with a heavily ornamented surround is also present.