Churches Committee Visit
by Mary Berg
The evening visits this year were to St Mary, Lower Higham and St Peter & St Paul, Shorne. Not only was the weather perfect but the churches were delightful and the speakers informative. We were met at St Mary’s by John Vigar of the Churches Conservation Trust (CCT) who own and care for the church. First, John told us about the Trust and how they work. The Trust was created in 1969 and until 1994 was known as the Redundant Churches Fund. It became clear that the buildings in the Fund’s care were often far from redundant but had changed their emphasis. In many churches, including St Mary’s, services are held a number of times a year but, sadly, they are no longer licensed for weddings. The 16 CCT churches in Kent are all open every day and are still consecrated.
The church of St Mary is Norman with a nunnery nearby and there is Norman work in the north wall of the nave. The church was rebuilt and enlarged in the centuries that followed until, in the 19th century, the railway triggered a growth in population to the south and a new church was constructed nearer the railway station. St Mary served as the nuns church as well as a parish church and that is why are there are two naves and two chancels side by side. Its outer appearance is of ragstone and knapped flint in a pattern typical of this part of north Kent. The late 14th or early 15th century work of the north chancel screen, the pulpit and the south door alone merit a visit. The area, including St Mary’s, has close Dickens connections – it is not far from Dickens home at Gad’s Hill.
At St Peter & St Paul we were met by the familiar figure of Andrew Moffat, until recently KAS Hon. Sec. and a churchwarden at Shorne. Andrew gave an interesting and informative introduction to this charming parish church. It is possible to see vestiges of its Saxon origins but nothing is to be seen of any Norman rebuilding. However, there is documentary evidence that the church was given to Bermondsey Abbey in 1133 and the Textus Roffensis mentioned a church at Shorne in the 11th century. The north aisle is dated at around the last part of the 12th century but it was rebuilt in the 15th century. The church seems to have been about the length it is today since the late 12th century but the Randall chapel was added at the east end of the south aisle in the late 13th or early 14th century, when the central chancel was remodelled. John de Cobham, whose estate was Randall, was the patron of the chapel and it was used as the schoolroom in the 18th century. There is a fine 15th century screen between the south aisle and the chapel. The splendid tower has a fireplace at first floor level, implying that it was used as a tower chamber. There is a lot to see in this fine church, too much for one short visit. We were served with tea and biscuits before we set out for home after a very satisfactory evening.
Erratum
Kent and Cluny, Summer Newsletter
It was, of course, not King Stephen’s son Eustace but Prince William the son of King Henry I, (Stephen’s uncle & predecessor), who drowned in the white ship.
Many apologies,
Mary Berg