Church Heritage Record 606343

Nave and chancel with north chapel (Aldington Chapel). Square west tower with kitchen and toilet in base. Opposing north and south porches. Boiler room between chapel and north porch.

The first mention of a church here is recorded in the Domesday Survey, where Thurnham is listed as Turnham. Given the early and established settlement of the area from a much earlier date (see below), it is reasonable to predict an earlier church on the site, or nearby. Between 1300 and 1550, the patronage was held by Augustinian Canons of the Priory and Convent of Combwell.

The Norman church was extended east in the 14th Century (recorded by small dated brass plaques) and west by the addition of a tower in the late 14th Century. A north porch was added in the 14th Century. The north chapel was added c.1603 by the Cutt family. It is known as the Aldington Chapel after the Sheldon family of Aldington Court. Richard Sheldon was buried here in 1736. The south porch was added in the 19th Century and the tower extended upwards 1850-51 (a broach spire is recorded in a drawing of 1804, perhaps removed at this time). Repairs and restoration were carried out in the early 20th Century. Facilities were installed in the tower base in 2000.

The surrounding area is rich in history and of high archaeological interest. To the south-west of St Mary’s is the site of a Roman villa. Archaeological investigation suggests other buildings may once have stood close to it. On high ground to the north-east are the remains of Thurnham Castle, a 12th Century motte and bailey castle. In addition there have been a great many archaeological finds within the area including Mesolithic flints, a Neolithic polished stone axe, Bronze Age finds, an Anglo-Saxon gold cross and pennies as well as a Saxon burial ground and medieval arrowheads.

The Kent Historic Environment Records should be checked prior to any development.  There are no known ecological designations relating to the immediate site though it is situated within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and within an area designated by the Local Authority as the North Down Special Landscape Area.

Set back from the road in a secluded churchyard the stone built church of St Mary the Virgin resides in remarkably good condition and is evidently well-maintained both inside and out. The churchyard is also well-kept.

The nave and chancel are under a single roof. A tower, with two-tier angle buttresses, rises at the west end. The west elevation has a door at ground-level and a two-light window above. The top stage has a lancet to either side and it is finished by a crenellated parapet. A shallow tiled pyramidal roof, surmounted by a weather vane, protrudes from behind. On the north side, at the far west of the nave, is a projecting stone gabled north porch used only for storage. Between it and the projecting chapel to the east, is a simple boiler house sufficiently low to avoid blocking the north window. The chapel has a modern pitched roof and a crenellated parapet. A square-headed 3-light window is set within the north wall, next to a blocked doorway. A tall chimney projects from the corner of the nave wall and west chapel wall. Angle buttresses clasp the east elevation. Set centrally within it is a fine tracery window of 4-lights with figurative stops ending the hood mould, restored 1878. A stone cross finial surmounts the gable. The south nave wall is pierced with three windows and a lancet.

The main entrance is through the projecting stone, tile-roofed south porch which lies directly opposite its earlier counterpart on the north side. The coursing of the stone sets it apart. A stone cross finial tops the gable. A large lantern hangs inside. The interior is accessed on the same level. The inside space, which combines nave and chancel, is quite narrow given the absence of aisles but its length and height ensure a sense of spaciousness. It is ceiled by a fine 14th or 15th-century oak crown-post roof.

Inside the north porch (up two steps) is a holy water stoup, probably of the 14th Century, set within the west wall with an emblem beneath it. A small east window. A high pointed tower arch in the centre of the west end is screened from the nave at ground level by a curtain. The tower floor is raised by a step and paved in stone slabs. The base contains a discrete kitchenette and a toilet along the north wall. A wooden door, probably 14th Century, in the south-west corner accesses the upper stages of the tower.

The nave aisle is paved in black and red quarry tiles bordered either side by stone flags. Seating is in the form of fixed late 18th to early 19th-century box pews in stained soft-wood with lower doors on raised timber platforms. Some of the pews on the north side have been painted and grained. The seating is interrupted on the south side opposite the north chapel. The font and a harpsichord have been relocated here. A continuous sill runs around the nave walls, dropping in height within the chancel. The walls are of painted plaster with exposed stone window surrounds. Windows are all set within deep reveals. There is a blocked round-headed window high on the north wall, the remains of an original 14th-century window. Where there is no stained glass, the windows consist of diamond leaded lights with cathedral glass.

The Aldington Chapel is accessed beneath a wide, round-headed arch (15th Century?) on round half-piers at the east end of the nave. The walls are plastered. The floor, which is raised on the north side, is of stone slabs and a black marble ledger stone. The ceiling is flat and constructed of chamfered oak beams.

The chancel to the east of the chapel is raised by a single limestone step and paved in red and black quarry tiles. There is no chancel arch but corbels high in the walls either side may indicate where a rood screen was once located. Oak boxed choir stalls fixed to timber platforms have lower doors and moulded panelling on the seat backs and pew ends. There are two limestone steps up to the sanctuary which is paved with alternate red and buff tiles and interspersed with encaustic tiles with encaustic tile borders. The sanctuary walls are covered by oak linenfold panelling which extends either side of the reredos. A 13th-century sedilia, piscina and aumbry are set within the south chancel wall. Some historic fragments of masonry with moulded details are visible within the south wall.