Darnley Chest Tomb About 3 Metres North of the Vestry of the Church of St Lawrence
DARNLEY CHEST TOMB ABOUT 3 METRES NORTH OF THE VESTRY OF THE CHURCH OF ST LAWRENCE, HIGH STREET
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1248828
- Date first listed:
- 24-Aug-1990
- List Entry Name:
- Darnley Chest Tomb About 3 Metres North of the Vestry of the Church of St Lawrence
- Statutory Address:
- DARNLEY CHEST TOMB ABOUT 3 METRES NORTH OF THE VESTRY OF THE CHURCH OF ST LAWRENCE, HIGH STREET
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2002-05-03
- Reference:
- IOE01/03906/08
- Rights:
- © Mrs Jane Comeau. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1248828
- Date first listed:
- 24-Aug-1990
- List Entry Name:
- Darnley Chest Tomb About 3 Metres North of the Vestry of the Church of St Lawrence
- Statutory Address 1:
- DARNLEY CHEST TOMB ABOUT 3 METRES NORTH OF THE VESTRY OF THE CHURCH OF ST LAWRENCE, HIGH STREET
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- DARNLEY CHEST TOMB ABOUT 3 METRES NORTH OF THE VESTRY OF THE CHURCH OF ST LAWRENCE, HIGH STREET
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Kent
- District:
- Tunbridge Wells (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Bidborough
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 56520 43213
Details
TQ 56 43 BIDBOROUGH HIGH STREET (east side)
11/8 Darnley chest tomb about 3m north of the vestry of the Church of St Lawrence
GV II
Chest tomb. Circa 1803, by Sir Richard Westmacott (Pevsner, 2nd edn., 1976), restored in 1956 (Skinner). Portland stone.
An elegant sarcophagus raised on stone blocks, the chest with shallow diagonal reeding and a moulded lid. Scrolls decorate each end of the lid with, in the centre of each scroll, a finely carved life-size putto head with wings carved back over the chest and meeting tip to tip. Rectangular inscription panels on the long sides of the sarcophagus, roundels at each end. The main inscription commemorates Mary, Countess of Darnley, died 1803. The Dowager Countess of Darnley lived at Great Bounds (demolished) in Bidborough parish from 1790 until her death. She paid for a west gallery in the church "for the use of the children of the Sunday School", which survived until the addition of the south aisle in 1876.
A very high quality churchyard monument.
Newman, John. West Kent and the Weald. Buildings of England series (1976 edn.).
Skinner, F.A., Bidborough, a Parish History (1986 edn.).
Listing NGR: TQ5652043213
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 430578
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Skinner, F A, Bidborough a Parish History, (1986)
Newman, J, The Buildings of England: West Kent and the Weald, (1976)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 14-Jun-2026 at 12:24:50.
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