Church of St Mary

Church of St Mary

Parish church with Saxon-Norman origins and much of the fabric dating from the late 12th or 13th century. The building was partly rebuilt and extensively refurbished in the 19th century, with the chancel rebuilt in 1847. In 1853 the south porch was blocked and a north aisle added. The church was repaired in 1936.

The structure is built of local ragstone rubble with ashlar detail, some of the quoins in Tunbridge Wells stone. The south side and chancel are cement-rendered, similar in treatment to nearby Hadlow Castle. The chancel roof is slate, while the nave and aisle roofs are red tile with scallop-tile bands, and the tower is shingled.

The plan comprises a nave, north aisle with porch and transept-like organ loft, chancel with vestry on the north side, and west tower. The tower contains Saxon-Norman work, while the chancel arch, south wall of the nave, and top of the tower are late 12th or 13th century. The remainder is 19th century, mostly in Early English and Decorated style.

The west tower is a single stage with diagonal buttresses and a low spire surmounted by a cast iron weather vane. The 19th century belfry lights are two-light. Late 12th and early 13th century lancets appear in the north and south walls. The west doorway is a two-centred arch with moulded surround and hoodmould under the relieving arch for an earlier doorway. It contains a very fine oak plank door, panelled with studded coverstrips and dated 1637 with the initials WB and ES, with good ironwork.

The south side of the nave is cement-rendered and has a three-window front with all 19th century replacement windows. The left window has Perpendicular tracery, while the others are Decorated with hoodmoulds; the right window has label stops carved as human heads. The east window is an Early English-style triple lancet with continuous hoodmould; the others have Decorated-style tracery. A private porch on the south side is in the Gothick style of Hadlow Castle, featuring a small fireplace. The 19th century north porch is timber-framed on stone sleeper walls, gabled with rows of trefoil-headed lights on each side complete with original leaded glass. Its two-centred outer arch contains a large plank door with ornate strap hinges. The north doorway is a two-centred arch with chamfered surround and hood. A 13th century south doorway is blocked, but its two-centred arch with moulded surround remains exposed.

Interior: A Saxon-Norman tower arch has a round head on plain imposts. The late 12th or early 13th century chancel arch is two-centred with double arch ring on simple moulded imposts. The remainder is 19th century. The nave has a boarded barrel-vault ceiling. The chancel has a boarded angled vault with coverstrips and is painted with Tudor roses, stars and similar motifs. The rere arches of the east window are moulded with half-engaged shafts. A tall two-centred arch to the organ loft has a stone screen pierced by trefoil-headed lancets. A four-bay arcade to the aisle features a centre circular pier with the others octagonal, plain moulded capitals, and double-chamfered arch rings. The aisle roof is carried on arch-braced trusses springing from plain stone corbels. The MacGeagh Chapel at the east end of the aisle has ornate carved oak screens in Gothic style on three sides, made in 1926. Circa 1970, most of the aisle was floored and screened off for community use. The floor is mostly carpeted but flagstones show in the chancel and red and black tiles in the nave. Some old graveslabs remain. Walls are plastered.

Fittings and furniture include a 19th century Gothic reredos comprising four slate prayer boards in a stone frame with carved spandrels and moulded hoods, now behind curtains. In front is a carved oak crucifixion carving. The former altar of 1885 with richly carved front in Gothic style now sits in the MacGeagh Chapel. The church contains 19th century simple Gothic prayer desks and 20th century stalls. An oak altar rail on brass standards with foliate brackets now separates the nave and chancel. A 19th century Gothic pulpit is octagonal and oak with a stone base; there is a brass lectern and 20th century chairs in the nave. A 19th century stone font has an octagonal bowl carved with cusped panels, moulded base, and octagonal stem on chamfered plinth. The aisle contains the Coverdale chair, presented to the church by T.E. Foster MacGeagh of Hadlow Castle in 1919. Made of oak and featuring magnificent carving, it is said to be the chair of the 16th century Bishop Coverdale of Exeter, although the chair appears to have been assembled in its present form in the 19th century.

Memorials: Apart from a couple of plain brass plaques, memorials are confined to the walls of the chancel. The oldest and finest is on the south side in memory of Sir John Rivers (died 1583). The lower part, including the inscription, is missing but the remaining part is of good quality. It features carved stone and marble with a kneeling man and woman at prayer facing each other over a prayer desk, each beneath a round-headed arch on fluted Corinthian columns with moulded entablature surmounted by heraldic achievements. High on the right wall is an oval plaque in memory of Robert White (died 1613) in a frame with broken pediment. The remainder are 18th and 19th century and of little more than local interest. Painted arms of George II appear in a nowy-headed frame over the chancel arch, along with various 18th and 19th century heraldic hatchments.

The chancel contains 19th century stained glass; the nave has 20th century stained glass.