St Mary's Church is a parish church in Hunton,

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 ...

. It was begun in the late 11th or the 12th century and 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 Irel ...

Building

The church was begun in the late 11th century or in the 12th century and was altered and extended in the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th and 19th centuries. The church is constructed of uncoursed

rag-stone Rag-stone is a name given by some architectural writers to work done with stones that are quarried in thin pieces, such as Horsham Stone, sandstone, Yorkshire stone, and the slate stones, but this is more properly flag or slab work. Near London ...

rubble and has plain tiled roofs. It was restored in 1876 by

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery. He was Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commiss ...

. 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 ...

is adjoined by an

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, par ...

on the south side and 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. Ov ...

has a chapel on its south side and a vestry to its north. The west tower is 13th century and comprises three stages divided by ashlared stone bands. The outer facing corners have diagonal

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 ( ...

es. Single lancet windows punctuate the north, south and west sides of the second and third stages. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...

is pyramidal with wood shingle covering, which also covers 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 ...

roof of the stair turret on the south-east side of the tower. The south aisle is 15th century. The rubble wall has a single buttress adjacent to the south porch on the west end and a plain parapet. A pair of two-lighted rectangular windows are on the south side and a two-lighted pointed arch window is in the west end. The porch is diagonally buttressed on the outer corners with a gabled roof. The south chapel was rebuilt or refaced in 1866 in with two-lighted rectangular windows in 15th century style. The north wall of the nave is from the late 11th century or from the 12th century with quoins of

tufa Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar (but less porous) carbonate deposits, which are known as travertin ...

stone. Two two-lighted windows traceried with quatrefoil and sexfoil decoration are late 13th century or early 14th century. A 15th-century three-lighted window is located in the centre of the north façade. The chancel is mostly 13th century with elements contemporaneous with the nave. The three-lighted east window is 19th century, but in 15th century style. The north façade contains a broad lancet window. The vestry was probably added in 1866 and has two lancet windows on the north side and a doorway on the west. Internally, the nave is separated from the aisle with a 15th-century arcade of three bays of pointed arches with octagonal columns. The tower and chancel arches are 13th century and 14th century respectively. The arches from the chancel to the vestry and chapel and between the aisle and chapel are all 19th century. The nave has a

crown post A crown post is a term in traditional timber framing for a post in roof framing which stands on a '' tie beam'' or ''collar beam'' and supports a ''collar plate''.Alcock, N. W.. Recording timber-framed buildings: an illustrated glossary. London ...

roof with moulded posts and chamfered tie beams. The chancel roof is boarded and the roof to the chapel is scissor braced. The south wall of the chancel contains a Bethersden Marble 13th century double

sedile In church architecture, sedilia (plural of Latin ''sedīle'', "seat") are seats, usually made of stone, found on the liturgical south side of an altar, often in the chancel, for use during Mass for the officiating priest and his assistants, the d ...

at its east end with a

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 ...

in the south-east corner. The font is octagonal with traceried panels. The Church of St Mary was Listed (Grade I, English Heritage Legacy ID: 432265) on 23 May 1967. The history provided in that document includes this background information: "Parish church. Late C11 or C12, C13, C14, C15, C16, and 1866. Restored 1876 by Ewan Christian. Uncoursed ragstone rubble with plain tile roof. West tower, nave, south aisle, south porch, chancel with south chapel and north vestry". A marble tablet on the nave wall is dedicated to

Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman ( né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 19 ...

who maintained a country estate nearby (now called Hunton Court); he died in 1908.

Monuments and memorials

The church contains a number of monuments to local families including Sir Thomas Fane MP and his wife (both ''d''. 1606), Francis Fane (''d''. 1651?), Lady Anne Fane (''d''. 1663), Sir Thomas Fane MP (''d''. 1692), Henry Hatley (''d''. 1716), Thomas Turner (''d''. 1776), Thomas Durant Punnett (''d''. 1785) and Sir

Henry Campbell-Bannerman Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman (né Campbell; 7 September 183622 April 1908) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. He served as the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1905 to 1908 and leader of the Liberal Party from 1899 to 1 ...

(''d.'' 1908, Prime Minister 1905–1908 and owner of nearby Hunton Court). The churchyard contains a number of Grade II listed tombs and headstones including those of James Allen (''d''. 1682), Paul Beeston (''d''. 1694), Richard Beeston (''d''. 1691), Ann Bishop (''d''. 1653), James Bishop (''d''. 165(2)?), Mary Bisset (''d''. 1698), William Bisset (''d''. 1714), Henry Catlet (''d''. 1700), Samuel Hovenden (''d''. 165(3)?), Thomas Newman (''d''. 1710), and Mary Snatt (''d''. 1666). Several others, without identifiable inscriptions, are also listed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunton, Saint Mary Borough of Maidstone 11th-century church buildings in England Grade I listed churches in Kent Church of England church buildings in Kent Diocese of Rochester

Building

Monuments and memorials

See also

References