St Mary's Church, Lenham facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St Mary's Church |
|
|---|---|
East end of the church with the buttressed chancel (left) and vestry (right), showing phased construction
|
|
| Lua error in Module:Location_map at line 420: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | |
| Location | Lenham, Kent |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Heritage designation | Grade I |
| Designated | 26 April 1968 |
| Completed | 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th centuries |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Rag-stone, Flint |
| Administration | |
| Parish | St Mary's, Lenham |
| Deanery | North Downs |
| Archdeaconry | Maidstone |
| Diocese | Canterbury |
| Province | Canterbury |
St Mary's Church is a very old church in a place called Lenham, Kent, England. It started being built way back in the 1100s, and people kept adding to it over the next three hundred years. It's so important that it's officially listed as a Grade I building, which means it's a really special historic place.
Contents
How the Church Was Built
This church was built in different stages over many years. It's made from local stones like rag-stone (a type of limestone) and flint (a hard, grey stone). Each part of the roof is flat and covered with plain tiles.
The Tower
The church's tower was built in the 1400s. It's made from rough, uneven pieces of rag-stone. The tower has three main sections and strong supports called buttresses at its corners. There's also a small stair tower on one side. The very top of the tower and the stair tower look like a castle, with a battlemented edge. Just above the windows where the bells are, there's a stone band called a string course with cool gargoyles sticking out. On the front of the tower, there's a large window with three sections, right above the main door.
The main part of the church, called the nave, and the area near the altar, called the chancel, were started in the 1100s. Their walls are mostly made of random flint stones with some larger stone pieces mixed in. On the south side of the nave, there are three arched windows, each with three sections, built in a style called "perpendicular." The chancel has a repaired three-section window and two tall, narrow windows called lancet windows. One of these lancet windows was changed later to have a flat top. The very end of the chancel was rebuilt in 1867 using carefully shaped flint stones. It has a tall, three-section window with a special clover-like design called a quatrefoil.
The North Side
On the north side of the nave, there's an extra section called the north aisle. This part was added in the 1300s and 1400s. It's made of shaped flint at the older end and rough rag-stone at the newer end. The north wall has one perpendicular three-section window and two other three-section windows with a net-like pattern. There's another similar window at the west end. At the east end of the aisle, there's a tower for the stairs that used to lead up to a rood loft (a screen above the altar). This stair tower is next to the wall of the north chapel, which is probably from the Norman period (around 1066-1154). This chapel is lower than the aisle and has a three-section window similar to those in the aisle.
The Vestry and Porch
Next to the north chapel and the chancel, at the east end of the church, is the vestry. This room, built in the 1400s, is lower than both the chapel and the chancel. It's made of rag-stone blocks with flint on top. Both the north and east walls have two-section windows with flat tops. The vestry door is on the north side. On the north side of the aisle, there's a porch from the 1400s with a wooden front.
St Mary's Church is currently on the Historic England "Heritage at Risk Register." This means it's a historic building that needs special care and attention to keep it safe for the future.
Inside the Church
Inside, the nave and the north aisle are separated by a row of arches called an arcade. There are four wide sections, or bays, in this arcade. Three of these arches are from the 1300s, and one was changed in the 1400s. The arches connecting the nave to the chancel, the aisle to the chapel, and the nave to the tower were all built in the 1400s. The roof of the nave has a special "scissor-braced" design. The aisle's roof has "king post trusses," which are wooden supports, and some of these are decorated. The vestry roof has "crown posts," and the chapel has a "collar rafter roof." The chancel roof, which was rebuilt in the 1800s, has simple wooden supports.
Special Features and Art
The church has some cool old features. There's a piscina (a basin for washing sacred vessels) from the 1200s in the chapel's south wall. The font, where baptisms happen, is from the 1400s and has eight sides. There are also old wooden seats called "medieval stalls" and different kinds of wooden panels on the pews in the nave. On the south wall of the nave, there's a large wall painting from around 1350. It shows St. Michael weighing people's souls.
Modern Updates
In 2012, the church was updated to make it easier for everyone to visit. They added a new section on the south side with two restrooms. They also replaced the old entrance doors with a glass door and added ramps. This makes it much simpler for people using wheelchairs or strollers to get inside.
Monuments and Gravestones
The church has several monuments inside that remember important people from the past. These include monuments for Robert Thompson (who died in 1642), Henry Thompson (d. 1648), Hon. John Hamilton (d. 1714), Richard Bead (d. 1723), and Dame Alicia Colpeper (d. 1737). There are also monuments for members of the Baldock, Brockwell, Codd, Dixon, Marshall, and Perry families. Outside in the churchyard, many of the gravestones are also listed as historic monuments.
A fun fact: The actor Tom Baker, who famously played Doctor Who, has a gravestone leaning against the church wall in the graveyard. It says "Tom Baker 1934-" but it hasn't been used yet!
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in Maidstone
- Tithe Barn, Lenham
