Church Of St Mary The Virgin

Church of St Mary the Virgin

This is a parish church located on the north side of Speldhurst Hill in Speldhurst. The base of the tower dates to the 14th century, but the original church was struck by lightning in 1791 and destroyed. The present church was rebuilt in 1870-71 by John Oldrid Scott, with a north chapel added in 1897 and a spire added in 1923. The building is constructed of coursed blocks of sandstone ashlar with peg-tile roofing and stone slate roofs to the porches.

The plan, apart from the tower base, is entirely 19th century in character. It comprises a nave with a lower chancel, a north aisle with chapel and vestry, a west tower, and north and south porches, all designed in the Early English style.

The exterior features a three-stage tower with angle buttresses rising to the top stage. A moulded eaves cornice with nailhead ornament runs beneath a low parapet, above which sits a low pyramid spire surmounted by an old wrought iron weather vane. The belfry contains large two-light windows with Early English tracery and louvred stone grilles. A square stair turret projects from the north side with an external doorway and diagonal buttresses up to the top stage, then becomes octagonal above the parapet. The west doorway is a two-centred arch with moulded surround and hoodmould, containing a plank door with ornamental strap hinges. Above it is an Early English style double lancet window.

The south side of the nave and north side of the aisle both comprise four bays separated by buttresses containing Early English style two-light windows with hoodmoulds and carved foliate label stops. The chancel follows a similar but more elaborate style, with gabled buttresses featuring chamfered corners. The hoodmoulds of the double lancets on the south side include nailhead ornament. The east window comprises three lights with early Decorated tracery and moulded reveals. The south porch has a tall, steeply pitched gabled roof and angle buttresses, with a two-centred outer arch featuring a moulded surround with shafts and hoodmould. The south doorway is a two-centred arch with shafts and capitals carved with stiffleaf decoration and chevrons around the arch, fitted with good Gothic-style hinges. The north porch is somewhat plainer. The vestry includes a buttress constructed from fragments of medieval tracery and other pieces recovered from the old church.

The interior is a very complete and high-quality late 19th century work. The nave features an open four-bay roof of arch-braced trusses rising from stone shafts on carved foliate corbels. The chancel has a similar two-bay roof but with common rafter trusses that are arch-braced. The north aisle has a more vernacular-looking four-bay roof of arch-braced trusses with windbraces. The tower contains a stone vault to the ringing floor. The rere arch of the west window has an elaborate inner window of two lights on a clustered shaft with stiffleaf capital and quatrefoil above enriched with nailhead ornament. A tall tower arch with half-engaged shafts and moulded capitals and bases features a double-chamfered arch ring. The chancel arch is more ornate, with four-leaf decoration to the hoodmould. The aisle has a four-bay arcade with piers featuring half-engaged shafts with moulded caps and bases, moulded arches, and hoodmoulds. In the chancel, the windows have Purbeck marble shafts with stiffleaf capitals and nailhead ornament. The walls throughout are of exposed stone ashlar, with a tile floor and some encaustic tiles in the chancel.

The fittings and furniture are of high quality. A very ornate carved stone reredos in Gothic style features the evangelists in niches either side of a central carving of the Virgin Mary below the Angel Gabriel. The altar is flanked by tall brass candle holders on twisted stems, with a 19th-century altar table with inlaid marquetry depicting sacred emblems. An ornate altar rail has double standards enriched with four-leaf ornament and providing niches for carved angels on pedestals. The sanctuary is lined with panelled wainscotting. A low panelled chancel screen features open tracery with sacred symbols and armorial bearings. There is an oak eagle lectern and an octagonal pulpit richly carved with a representation of the Virgin Mary with infant Jesus. The benches are of oak. The font has an octagonal bowl carved with a Gothic arcade on clustered shafts, with an elaborate carved timber font cover dated 1926 complete with pulley.

Old memorials from the first church have been set in the tower. These are of marble and date from the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Two good monuments on the north wall commemorate John Yorke (died 1798) and Martin Yorke (died 1805), both carved with military trophies and urns on pedestals and made by John Bacon Junior. The best monument is on the south side in memory of William Reymond (died 1836) and features a plaque on a sarcophagus from which the deceased is being carried up to heaven by three angels. This is signed by Thomas Denham.

The church contains a complete set of stained glass by Morris and Company and Clayton and Bell, which is the glory of the building. Ten of the windows are designed by Burne-Jones.