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Holy Cross is a
The arcade between the nave and aisle has four bays and was constructed in the 14th century with the two at the east end rebuilt in the 15th century. A single arch at the west end of the arcade is possibly
Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, Bearsted: Holy Cross
Image of the medieval stained glass window in north aisle. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bearsted, Holy Cross Church 13th-century church buildings in England 14th-century church buildings in England 15th-century church buildings in England Borough of Maidstone Grade I listed churches in Kent Church of England church buildings in Kent Diocese of Canterbury
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of the Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...
in Bearsted, Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
. Its construction begun in the 13th century.
Building
Construction of the church began in the 13th century and continued in stages during the 14th and 15th centuries. It is built of local rag-stone and the roofs are covered with plain tiles. Thenave
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-typ ...
is flanked by a single aisle
An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, pa ...
on the north side and entered from a porch on the south side. At the west end of the nave is a square three-storey tower with a crenellated parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...
, a stair turret on its south-east corner and staggered buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...
es on the other three corners. Three stone beasts sit on the corners of the parapet. These are replacements of originals eroded over time, which may have originally represented three wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...
from the ancestor of Fludd line Rhirid Flaidd coat of arms.
The arcade between the nave and aisle has four bays and was constructed in the 14th century with the two at the east end rebuilt in the 15th century. A single arch at the west end of the arcade is possibly Anglo-Saxon
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo-Saxons happened wit ...
. The south wall of the nave contains a stair to the rood loft
The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...
. The chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
...
contains 13th-century sedile and piscina
A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a piscina. For Roman Ca ...
. Restoration of the church includes 19th-century panelling and pews in the nave and aisle, followed by 20th-century replacement of much of the roof.
The windows are generally small apart from those in the east end of the nave and aisle and above the doorway in the west wall of the tower. The south wall of the church features 13th-century lancet window
A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural element are typical of Gothic church edifices of the earliest period. Lancet ...
s on the left of the porch and in the chancel. The windows on the north side are 14th century.
The church features monuments to Margarete and Steven Mason (died 1552 and 1560), Henrye Brockill of Aldington (died 1596), Susanna Cage (died 1634) and floor tablets to Eleonor, John and Guillemo Cage (late 17th century). Elizabeth Andras (died 1592), wife of Sir Thomas Fludd, and her son Robert Fludd
Robert Fludd, also known as Robertus de Fluctibus (17 January 1574 – 8 September 1637), was a prominent English Paracelsian physician with both scientific and occult interests. He is remembered as an astrologer, mathematician, cosmologis ...
, the physician and occultist (died 1637), are also commemorated with memorials in the church, the later with a bust on a plinth. The Milgate Chantry is a fourteenth century chantry located to the north of the aisle. It was suppressed in 1536, and subsequently belonged to the owners of Milgate House, Thurnham
Milgate House, previously Milgate Park, is an English country house in Thurnham near Maidstone, Kent. The oldest parts of the house were constructed in the mid to late 16th century and alterations and additions were made in the 17th and 18th ce ...
. From the 1560s until 1624 this was the Fludd family.
The church sits in a small churchyard
In Christian countries a churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church, which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster-Scots, this can also ...
to which is attached a larger graveyard to the east. John Dyke, the last man hanged on Penenden Heath
Penenden Heath is a suburb in the town of Maidstone in Kent, England.
As the name suggests it is nucleated around a former heath (now park land).
History
Before the expansion of Maidstone, the heath was often used as a venue for a site for ...
, in 1830, is buried in the graveyard.
The church is a Grade I listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
, and the churchyard contains three table tombs and the village war memorial which are listed Grade II.
See also
* Grade I listed buildings in MaidstoneReferences
External links
*Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, Bearsted: Holy Cross
Image of the medieval stained glass window in north aisle. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bearsted, Holy Cross Church 13th-century church buildings in England 14th-century church buildings in England 15th-century church buildings in England Borough of Maidstone Grade I listed churches in Kent Church of England church buildings in Kent Diocese of Canterbury