St Nicholas Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church in

New Romney New Romney is a market town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to silt up. New Romney, one of the original Cinque Ports, was once a sea port, w ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, England, and in the

Diocese of Canterbury The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering East Kent, eastern Kent which was founded by St Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest episcopal see, see of the Chur ...

. It is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The earliest parts of the church date from the 12th century.

Churches in the town

Until 1547, there were five parish churches in New Romney: St. Laurence, St. Martin, St. John, St. Michael and St. Nicholas, of which only the latter survives. The oldest, St Martin, was a Saxon church; it may have been built on the site of an earlier oratory dedicated to that saint. St Laurence, a later Saxon church, stood at the west end of High Street. By 1282, St Martin and St Laurence had become dependent chapels of St Nicholas. They were both demolished in the 16th century.

Description

St. Nicholas's Church traces its history back to

Bishop Odo Odo of Bayeux (died 1097) was a Norman nobleman who was a bishop of Bayeux in Normandy and was made Earl of Kent in England following the Norman Conquest. He was the maternal half-brother of duke, and later king, William the Conqueror, and w ...

, brother-in-law of

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

, who founded the site in 1086. The

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and

clerestory A clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey; from Old French ''cler estor'') is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye-level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, a ''clerestory' ...

, originally with low-pitched side aisles, date from the 12th century, constructed from

Caen stone Caen stone () is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about 167 million years ...

by masons from Normandy. The two upper stages of the tower, with corner turrets and octagonal parapet, date from about 1200.Anne Roper. ''The Gift of the Sea: Romney Marsh''. Birlings (Kent) Ltd. 2nd edition 1988. Pages 28–32."St Nicholas, New Romney"
theromneymarsh.net. Retrieved 7 November 2021. In the 14th century, the easternmost bay of the nave, the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

, and two side-chapels were built, and the side aisles were raised. The church was near a harbour until the storm of 1287. The storm deposited silt in the town and changed the course of the River Rother (so that since then it has flowed into the sea at

Rye Rye (''Secale cereale'') is a grass grown extensively as a grain, a cover crop and a forage crop. It is grown principally in an area from Eastern and Northern Europe into Russia. It is much more tolerant of cold weather and poor soil than o ...

); the street level remains higher than the church, and there are steps descending to the west entrance. Other traces of the storm are visible around the church. The

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

arch of the west entrance, and the Norman arcades between the nave and the aisles, are notable. The east window has reticulated tracery, with Victorian stained glass commemorating members of the Stringer family, a prominent local family. In the south aisle is the tomb of Richard Stuppeny (died 1526),

jurat The ''jurats'' () are lay people in Guernsey and Jersey who act as judges of fact rather than law, though they preside over land conveyances and liquor licensing. In Alderney, however, the jurats are judges of both fact and law (assisted by thei ...

of the town. A

monumental brass A monumental brass is a type of engraved church monument, sepulchral memorial once found through Western Europe, which in the 13th century began to partially take the place of three-dimensional church monument, monuments and effigy, effigies carve ...

on the tomb tells that it was renewed in 1622 by his great-grandson Clement Stuppeny. Until the passing of the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 ( 5 & 6 Will. 4. c. 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and Wales. The le ...

, the jurats assembled annually around the tomb to elect the mayor. The Church today As part of the Romney Marsh

Benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

, the church is currently overseen by the Team Rector, the Reverend Chris Hodgkins. On the first, second and third Sundays of the month,

Holy Communion The Eucharist ( ; from , ), also called Holy Communion, the Blessed Sacrament or the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite, considered a sacrament in most churches and an ordinance in others. Christians believe that the rite was instituted by J ...

is held at 11 a.m., and on fourth Sundays, morning worship is held, both according to

Common Worship ''Common Worship'' is the name given to the series of services authorised by the General Synod of the Church of England and launched on the first Sunday of Advent in 2000. It represents the most recent stage of development of the Liturgical M ...

. Fifth Sundays, when occurring, feature Benefice Communion services which move around the Benefice.

External links

�
Church Page on Benefice Website

�
A Church Near You page

�
3D View of the Church

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Romney, St Ncholas Church Grade I listed churches in Kent Church of England church buildings in Kent English churches with Norman architecture Diocese of Canterbury