St Margaret's Church is an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church in the village of

Halstead Halstead is a town and civil parish in the Braintree District of Essex, England. Its population of 11,906 in 2011 Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506 situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lon ...

deanery, although the church also serves the village of

Badgers Mount Badgers Mount is a village and civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England It is located 3.6 miles south east of Orpington and 5.6 miles north west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with Greater London. Transport Rail The nea ...

. St Katharine's and St Margaret's came together in 1983 as a United Benefice under one parish priest. The pattern of services reflects the fact that it is two parishes working closely together.

History and architecture

St Margaret's is built across the road from the site of the original demolished

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

church, the only remaining sections of which include the

monuments A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

held inside the current church; these monuments date back to the mid-15th century. 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. Ove ...

was built in 1855 by

R. C. Hussey Richard Charles Hussey, often referred to as R. C. Hussey, was a British architect. He was in partnership with Thomas Rickman from 1835, whose practice he assumed in 1838 with the latter's failing health; Rickman died on 4 January, 1841. Works ...

, and is described by

architectural historian An architectural historian is a person who studies and writes about the history of architecture, and is regarded as an authority on it. Professional requirements As many architectural historians are employed at universities and other facilities ...

John Newman as having "flintwork

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

is laboriously galleted with flint flakes", and was originally built as a burial chapel. 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 the

lean-to A lean-to is a type of simple structure originally added to an existing building with the rafters "leaning" against another wall. Free-standing lean-to structures are generally used as shelters. One traditional type of lean-to is known by its Finn ...

south

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, parl ...

are combined under a single roof built by W. M. Teulon between 1880 and 1881. The south-west

porch A porch (from Old French ''porche'', from Latin ''porticus'' "colonnade", from ''porta'' "passage") is a room or gallery located in front of an entrance of a building. A porch is placed in front of the facade of a building it commands, and form ...

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden ...

, and is "picturesquely" grouped with the south-east gabled window and a large west

bell-gable The bell gable ( es, espadaña, french: clocher-mur, it, campanile a vela) is an architectural element crowning the upper end of the wall of church buildings, usually in lieu of a church tower. It consists of a gable end in stone, with small ho ...

. The north aisle and

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

were built by St Aubyn and Wadling in 1897, and the outer north aisle was completed in 1992. The interior is unified, boasting "three-bay arcades with circular

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

, bold

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

and deeply moulded red brick arches." The organ case was possibly provided by Teulon, and includes a canted front. The

stained glass windows Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

in the west of the nave were designed by Casolani and brought in from the old church in 1867. Those in the east chancel depict

Christ in Majesty Christ in Majesty or Christ in Glory ( la, Maiestas Domini) is the Western Christian image of Christ seated on a throne as ruler of the world, always seen frontally in the centre of the composition, and often flanked by other sacred figures, whos ...

, and were designed in the 1880s by Hardman & Co. The north aisle's windows were built by Morris & Co. in 1909, using designs by

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August, 183317 June, 1898) was a British painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood which included Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Millais, Ford Madox Brown and Holman Hun ...

; those in the south aisle were designed by Marguerite Douglas-Thomson in 1950. Monuments present inside the church include a dedication to William Burys, who died in 1444 and is depicted in armour in 26 inch high

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

; William Petley, who died in 1528 and is depicted with his wife in a comparatively small brass; and Sir James Ashe, who died in 1733, his dedication presented in a white marble tablet, depicting cherubs at the top and bottom, and signed by Jonathan Barker - this is the latter's only known work. There is also a grave of a crusader at this church.

References

External links

Church history by Geoffrey KitchenerA Church Near You
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halstead, St Margaret's Church Church of England church buildings in Kent Diocese of Rochester Buildings and structures in Sevenoaks District

History and architecture

See also

References

External links