Church Of St George

Description

This information is taken from the statutory List as it was in 2001 and may not be up to date.

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5277 PRINCES STREET (West Side)

Church of St George TQ 6474 SE 1/1 23.1.52.

B

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Parish Church. The original Parish Church of Gravesend (St Mary's) was nearly a mile further inland to the south. The first church on the present site was built in 1510 and became the Parish Church in 1544. This was burned down in 1727 in the great fire which destroyed most of old Gravesend. The present building was built in 1731-3 at the cost of 5,000. George II contributed 1,000, Queen Caroline 500, and the remainder was obtained from duties levied on coal brought by sea to London and Gravesend. The architect and builder was C Sloane (1690-1764) who is buried in the Churchyard. On the west wall of the Church is a tablet in memory of him. (He also built the Old Town Hall at Maidstone). The Church is built of brown brick on an ashlar base, with long and short stone quoins. Apsidal east end with curved pediment above it. Brick tower at the west end with stone cupola set back above with clock face on each front, and stone spire set back above this. Doorcase with Gibbs surround. The north and west sides of the Church each have 2 tiers of 5 windows, the upper tier being round-headed and the lower tier segmental-headed. The organ loft was inserted in 1764 and the small galleries on each side of it in 1819. Apse enlarged and North Aisle added in the 1890s by W and C A Basset-Smith. The Red Indian Princess Pocahontas, daughter of Chief Powhattan of Virginia, who was baptised Rebecca, married Thomas Rolfe and with him visited the English court in 1616, where she was received by Queen Anne, wife of James I, was buried in the Chancel of the Parish Church of Gravesend when she died in England in March 1617. It is generally thought that this was the previous church on the present site which had been the Parish church since 1544, and on this assumption there is a tablet in memory of the Princess in the present building.

But the original Parish Church of St Mary was still standing in 1617, and so there is some element of doubt in the matter.

Listing NGR: TQ6468974341

Content

This is part of the Series: IOE01/1285 IOE Records taken by Thomas A Machin; within the Collection: IOE01 Images Of England

Rights

© Mr Thomas A. Machin. Source: Historic England Archive

This photograph was taken for the Images of England project