Church of St Mary

Details

NETTLESTEAD MAIDSTONE ROAD TQ 65 SE (East side) 1/3 Church of St. Mary 23-5-67 GV I

Parish church. C13, circa 1438, 1460s, circa 1496 and 1841, with alterations of 1858 by Joseph Clarke. Tower small lumps of roughly-coursed ragstone. Larger blocks of more evenly-coursed ragstone to nave and chancel. Slightly larger blocks still to porch. Wood shingles to tower, plain tile roofs to rest. West tower, nave, south porch, chancel (narrower than nave). West tower: C13. Two stages, with battered plinth. Pyramidal roof. Louvred pointed lancet towards top of each face of belfry except east. Pointed west lancet and small rectangular south lancet towards base of belfry stage. Pointed west and south lancets to lower stage. Medieval west doorway inserted 1858 and said to have come from Teston church (demolished c.1736); moulded pointed-arched outer architrave containing tracery of two cinquefoil-headed lights and quatrefoil over low doubly plain - chamfered pointed inner architrave. Ribbed and studded door. Nave: c.1438 or slightly earlier. Deep moulded plinth, continued round buttresses and exposed sections of gable ends. Moulded stone string at window-cill level, interrupted by buttresses. Four buttresses reaching to eaves, one at each end of south elevation and two towards centre, with moulded stone coping to offsets. Moulded strings returned along gable ends from offsets of outer buttresses. Three tall C15 south windows virtually filling bays between buttresses, moulded, with cambered heads, three cinquefoil-headed lights, tracery of vertical bars, and moulded hoodmoulds with pendant ends. South-west window has higher cill to accommodate doorway. South porch: c.1496. Fills south-west bay of nave. Chamfered plinth, continued from base of nave plinth. Moulded stone coping to plain parapet. Diagonal buttresses. Small niche with squared hoodmould over doorway. Small rectangular light to east side only. Moulded four-centred-arched outer doorway with squared architrave, moulded hoodmould, and plain shields to spandrels. Four-centred-arched cavetto-moulded inner doorway with squared architrave, hollow spandrels and moulded hoodmould, head of which is also continued horizontally for short distance each side of doorway. Door with six fielded panels. Chancel: 1460s?. Moulded plinth continued from nave. Moulded string. Lower eaves and ridge than nave. Integral diagonal north-east and south-east buttresses. One moulded pointed-arched C15 south window set towards west end, with cinquefoil-headed lights, tracery of vertical bars, and hoodmould. Pointed-arched cavetto-moulded C15 east window, with three cinquefoil-headed lights, tracery of vertical bars and quatrefoils, and moulded hoodmould. North elevation as south. Nave: north elevation : as south, but with mid-C19 stair-turret extension in coursed square stone blocks, overlapping north face of tower, with small bevelled four-centred-arched doorway to base. Interior: structure: tall, moulded pointed-(almost four-centred)-arched chancel arch, inner section of moulding springing each side from engaged column with moulded capital and base. Shorter tower arch, altered in 1841; pointed or four-centred arch of two plain-chamfered orders, inner order springing each side from engaged semi-octagonal shaft with scroll-moulded capital and moulded base. Cavetto-moulded architraves to nave and chancel'windows. Medieval window from Teston church inserted above chancel arch in 1858; pointed arched, with two cinquefoil-headed lights, tracery with quatrefoil, and moulded hoodmould. Roof: chancel roof has cornice, collar-purlin, central and gable-end principal rafters, all roll-moulded, and plain broad common rafters(?), curved, and, with curved ashlar-pieces, forming four-centred arch with collar purlin as apex. Slightly recessed boarded infilling between rafters. Bosses at junction of collar-purlin and principal rafters. Plastered nave roof has same outline as chancel roof, and moulded cornice. Fittings: C15 wooden screen from Teston Church (now under tower) of four traceried two-light panels with moulded mullions; boarding below midrail renewed or replaced. Octagonal stone font on broadly-chamfered stem and plinth. Stained glass: central north window of c.1438, depicting St. Thomas, St. Bartholomew and St. Matthew, with canopy work (two heads renewed). North-west window contains small scenes from life of Thomas Becket. C15 tracery glass, of angels holding heraldic shields, in all six nave windows and east chancel window. North chancel window (1460s?) with St. Stephen and St. Lawrence on a decorative ground, with angels and beasts in the tracery. Crucifixion in east window 1909 by T.F.Curtis (of Ward and Hughes); the Virgin and St. John said to be largely old. North-east nave window 1894 by T.F.Curtis, in a convincing C15 style, depicting St. Simon, St. Matthias and St. Thaddeus with canopies. South-east nave window 1911, with St. Peter, St. Andrew and St. James Major. Monuments: monument on east wall of nave, to south of chancel arch, to Katharine Scott, d.1616; kneeling woman and child in round-headed recess with Tudor roses to soffit and heraldic shields to spandrels, flanked by Corinthian capitals. Frieze containing inscription. Open-topped triangular pediment with reclining putti, and achievements. Pulvinated bay-leaf plinth, and scrolled base-plate with text. Monument on east wall of nave, to north of chancel arch, to Elizabeth Scott, d.1598; kneeling woman in round-headed recess with panelled soffit and plain spandrels, flanked by Corinthian capitals. Moulded cornice with encircled shield over. Consoled plinth with inscription between consoles. Scrolled base plate. John or Reginald Pympe of Nettlestead Place (q.v.) put glass in nave c.1438 and (John's son?) left money for porch c.1496. (J. Newman, Buildings of England Series, West Kent and the Weald, 1980 edn. Measured drawings, including moulding details, in National Monuments Record. Church guide, no date. Country Life October 16th 1958).

Listing NGR: TQ6854552056

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

174803

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Church of St Mary Church Guide, ()
Newman, J, The Buildings of England: West Kent and the Weald, (1980)
Country Life in 16 October, (1958)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.