St Mary the Virgin is a small parish church in Thurnham,

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 ...

. Begun in the 12th century, 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 ...

Building

The church was begun in the 12th century with alterations made up to the early 17th century. The church comprises a continuous

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

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 ...

with a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

at the east end of the north side of the nave. Porches on the north and south side abut the west tower. Apart from the porches and the chapel, the church is constructed of random

flint Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Historically, flint was widely used to make stone tools and start ...

and has a plain tiled roof. The porches are of uneven stone blocks and the chapel is of galleted stone. The west tower is in two stages with a

battlement A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an upward extension of a 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/brea ...

with

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 (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

es at the four corners. A small window is above the west door and the

belfry The belfry /ˈbɛlfri/ is a structure enclosing bells for ringing as part of a building, usually as part of a bell tower or steeple. It can also refer to the entire tower or building, particularly in continental Europe for such a tower attached ...

stage has single-lighted openings.

Edward Hasted Edward Hasted (20 December 1732 OS (31 December 1732 NS) – 14 January 1812) was an English antiquarian and pioneering historian of his ancestral home county of Kent. As such, he was the author of a major county history, ''The History and ...

describe the church in 1798 as having a pointed

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

, but this is no longer present. The west end of the nave and chancel is 12th or 13th century and the east end 14th century. The south wall contains two restored

perpendicular gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

windows at the west. The north wall has a single restored perpendicular window. The east end of the chancel has a large restored window. The porches are early 15th century with

gabled roof A gable roof is a roof consisting of two sections whose upper horizontal edges meet to form its roof ridge, ridge. The most common roof shape in cold or temperate climates, it is constructed of rafters, roof trusses or purlins. The roof pitch, p ...

s and the chapel was added circa 1603 with a

hipped roof A hip roof, hip-roof or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downward to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope, with variants including tented roofs and others. Thus, a hipped roof has no gables or other vertical sides ...

behind a battlemented parapet. Each has a

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

and the chapel has a large window on its east side. Internally, the nave is separated from the chapel with a 15th-century arch. The nave roof has

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. Londo ...

s; the chancel roof has collar

purlin A purlin (or historically purline, purloyne, purling, perling) is a longitudinal, horizontal, structural member in a roof. In traditional timber framing there are three basic types of purlin: purlin plate, principal purlin, and common purlin. P ...

s, but no crown posts. The

Reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

is heavily carved and was made in

Oberammergau Oberammergau is a municipality in the district of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in Bavaria, Germany. The small town on the Ammer River is known for its woodcarvers and woodcarvings, for its NATO School, and around the world for its 380-year tradition of ...

. It is dedicated to Mrs Julia Jane Hampson (''d''. 1904, wife of the vicar, Rev. William Hampson). The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

is octagonal and possibly 14th century. The pews are late 18th or early 19th century. The chapel is dedicated to Sir Henry Cutt and was paid for by his wife Lady Barbara Cutt. The church contains memorials to Lady Barbara (''d''. 1618), her second husband William Covert, Richard Sheldon (''d''. 1736), Mariae Dering (''d''. 1725), Thomas Burwash (''d''. 1791) and Thomas Wise (''d''. 1790) and family. The churchyard contains a number of Grade II listed monuments.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurnham, Mary the Virgin 12th-century church buildings in England Borough of Maidstone Grade I listed churches in Kent Church of England church buildings in Kent Diocese of Canterbury

Building

See also

References