St Mary the Virgin is a parish church in Nettlestead,

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 ...

, begun in the 13th century.

Building

Construction of the church began in the 13th century – the square tower at the west end being the only part surviving from this period. The tower is built of roughly-coursed local

ragstone 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 ...

and is topped with a pyramidal shingle-covered roof. It features lancet windows in the three outward-facing sides and a medieval doorway installed in 1858 that came from a demolished church at

Teston Teston /ˈtiːstən/ The Place Names of Kent,Judith Glover,1976,Batsford. or /ˈtiːsən/ BBC Pronouncing Dictionary of British Names — is a village in the Maidstone District of Kent, England. It is located on the A26 road out of Maidston ...

. 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 ...

was built about 1438. The north and south elevations are similar; each divided by tall

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 into three bays containing large stone-framed windows with curved tops divided into three vertical divisions. The western bay of the south side also contains a porch dated to about 1496. The north side is extended against the tower to enclose a stair turret built in the 19th century. a moulded plinth runs along the base of both façades. 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 ...

was built about 1460. It is narrower and set inward from each side of the nave and has lower eaves. The plinth continues and the eastern corners are diagonally buttressed. A single small pointed window with two lights is located at the west end of the north and south sides of the chancel and a pointed three light window in the east end. Internally, the roof of the chancel has a boarded ceiling with rafters decorated with bosses. The roof of the nave is plastered. A 15th-century tracery screen from Teston church is located at the base of the tower. The church contains wall monuments to Elizabeth Scott (died 1598) and Katharine Scott (died 1616), both featuring kneeling female figures. The stained glass in the church windows includes panels in the central window on the north side of the nave which were paid for by John or Reginald Pympe of the neighbouring

Nettlestead Place Nettlestead Place is a country house in Nettlestead, Kent, England. The house and its gatehouse are each separately Grade I listed buildings. Buildings The construction of Nettlestead Place began c. 1250–60 with additions added c. 1438 an ...

in 1438. The north chancel window possibly dates from the 1460s and angels holding heraldic shields in the top lights of many of the windows are also 15th century. Other windows are Victorian or

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

in 15th century style. The church

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

contains a memorial to casualties of both World Wars and the churchyard contains three chest tomb memorials which are Grade II listed.

Use

The church is used by both

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 Britai ...

and

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

congregations, with the Catholic Mass held before the Anglican service on Sundays.

References

External links

Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, Nettlestead: St Mary
Images of the stained glass windows {{DEFAULTSORT:Nettlestead, Saint Mary Borough of Maidstone 13th-century church buildings in England Grade I listed churches in Kent Church of England church buildings in Kent Diocese of Rochester Roman Catholic churches in Kent

Building

Use

See also

References

External links