Category Archives: Norman

VM_365 Day 326 The parish church of St Laurence, Ramsgate

VM 326

Today’s image for Day 326 of the VM_365 project shows the parish church of St Laurence, Ramsgate viewed from the western end.

A church at St Laurence was founded in 1062 and the church  is mentioned in Thorne’s Chronicle of St Augustine’s Abbey when it was given to the Abbey in 1124. The church like St John’s, Margate and St Peter’s, Broadstairs was one of the chapels to the Mother church at Minster which featured on Day 322 of the VM_365 project until it became a parish church in its own right in 1275.

The church followed the same pattern as the churches of St John and St Peter, being enlarged in the late 12th century and the naves, arcades and the tower; which is constructed of Kent ragstone and flint with Caen stone dressings, are of this phase.

The upper part of the tower with its crenellations  is clearly different from the lower stages and dates to around the 15th century along with the construction of the south porch.

The churchyard contains a number of tombstones dating to the early 18th century, mainly located within two or three metres of the northern side of the church, that are decorated with crossed bones and winged cherub’s heads.

References/Further Reading

Berg, M. and Jones, H.  2009. Norman Churches in the Canterbury Diocese. The History Press.

Historic England 2015. The National Heritage List for Britain: The Church of St Laurence. List entry no. 1336662. http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1336662

 

VM_365 Day 325 The parish church of St Peter the Apostle, St Peters, Broadstairs

VM 325

Today’s image for Day 325 of the VM_365 project shows the parish church of St Peter the Apostle which is located in the vilage of St Peter’s, Broadstairs. Like the parish church of St John the Baptist, Margate which featured on Day 324 of the VM_365 project, this was originally a chapel to the mother church at Minster before becoming a parish church in its own right in the 13th century.

This church was constructed in the 12th century and was originally much smaller consisting of a chancel, nave and a south aisle with at least two bays. The original Norman arcade of mid 12th century date still survives. The church was extended with the addition of a north and south aisle in the late 12th century. The existing north chancel arcade may be of early 13th century date.

In the 14th century the Norman aisles were widened and the north west tower with its crenellations and gargoyles was added in the early 15th century.

Interestingly the church tower was used as a signalling station in Napoleonic times due to its then highly visible location and it still has the right to fly the White Ensign.

Like our other parish churches on Thanet, this church was heavily restored in the mid 19th century.

References/Further Reading

Berg, M. and Jones, H.  2009. Norman Churches in the Canterbury Diocese. The History Press.

Historic England 2015. The National Heritage List for Britain: The Parish Church of St Peter the Apostle. List entry no. 1273791. http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1273791&searchtype=mapsearch

St Peter in Thanet. 2015. A Brief History of the Church. http://www.stpeterinthanet.org.uk/aboutus.htm

VM_365 Day 324 The parish church of St John the Baptist, Margate

VM 324Today’s image for Day 324 of the VM_365 project shows the large parish church of St John the Baptist, Margate. It is located on high ground about a mile inland from the coast and would have been widely visible throughout the parish before the town became more built up in the 19th and 20th centuries. The church was constructed mainly in knapped flint with some ragstone used later.

St John’s was a chapel to the mother church at Minster until 1275 when it became a parish church in its own right. There may have been a church here as early as the mid 11th century although parts of the original surviving Norman church were probably constructed in the mid 12th century. The Norman church was much smaller than the current structure although it did have a north aisle of two or three bays and part of the existing north aisle and the chancel arcades date to this phase. The church was significantly extended to the west later in the 12th century and the rest of the north and south aisle were added.

Some of the south and north arcades were replaced in the 13th century possibly to resolve problems with the structure which may have the result of a fire or a collapse. The very tall northwest tower was constructed in the 13th century and the spire was added in the 14th century.

In the late 15th to early 16th century, a treasury built of kentish ragstone with a low pitched roof and crenellated parapet was built at the north east end of the church which suggests that the church had become wealthy enough to need somewhere to secure valuables. It later became the place where the churchwardens administered poor relief and as a secure store for gunpowder and weapons.

The exterior of the church was heavily restored in the 1870’s by the well known architect Ewan Christian.

References/Further Reading

Berg, M. and Jones, H.  2009. Norman Churches in the Canterbury Diocese. The History Press.

Colyer, R. 2012. The Parish Church of St John the Baptist, Margate. A short guide. http://www.stjohnschurchmargate.org.uk/churchfamily-history/the-parish-church-of-st-john-the-baptist-margate-a-short-guide-5/

Historic England 2015. The National Heritage List for Britain: The Parish Church of St John the Baptist. List entry no.1351103. http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1351103&searchtype=mapsearch

 

VM_365 Day 323 The parish church of All Saints, Birchington.

VM 323The image for Day 323 of the VM_365 project shows the parish church of All Saints, Birchington. The church is located on high ground approximatley 1.2 km (¾ mile) from the coast and although now  heavily built up,  the landscape would have been open all the way down to the sea until around the mid 19th century. The churchyard is large and open and has been terraced along the hillside to accomodate the 19th century extension to the graveyard.

The church was a chapel to the church at Monkton along with Woodchurch/Acol and was part of the possessions of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury until the Dissoloution when it was passed to the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury.

All Saints was constructed in the 12th century or earlier using flint and Caen stone and had already been aisled by the late 12th century. The earliest surviving fabric exists in the lower outer aisle walls, with some reused Caen stone blocks in the upper face of the south west aisle and the south doorway, although restored in the 1860’s, retains two capitals dating to the later 12th century. Two of the reused blocks may be from the tops of earlier Norman windows associated with the phase before the construction of the aisles.

The chancel was rebuilt in the earlier 13th century, flanked by two new chapels to the north and south and a new tower was constructed. The south chapel, dedicated to St Margaret extended under the tower, the chapel on the north side was dedicated to Our Lady. Both chapels were later dedicated to the Crispe and Quex families.

The nave arcades were rebuilt in the 1340’s and a new chancel arch added using flint and Rag stone. The 14th century north doorway, which was blocked in the 1860’s still survives. Most of the later medieval features were removed from the church probably when the whole of the exterior of the church was heavily refaced and ‘restored’ in the 1860’s using flint and Bathstone. New vestries were added to the south east of the church in 1910-11.

The founder of the Pre-Raphelite movement, Dante Gabriel Rossetti; poet, painter and illustrator, died at Birchington in 1882 and is buried in the churchyard. His monument is located near the south porch.

References/Further Reading

Berg, M. and Jones, H.  2009. Norman Churches in the Canterbury Diocese. The History Press.

Tatton-Brown, T. 1996. All Saints Church, Birchington. Canterbury Diocese: Historical and Archaeological Survey. http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/01/03/BIR.htm

VM_365 Day 322 Church of St Mary the Virgin, Minster in Thanet

VM 322The image for Day 322 of the VM_365 project shows the eastern end of the church of St Mary the Virgin, Minster in Thanet.  The church was constructed with a mixture of water rounded flints and Thanet beds sandstone, with Caen stone , Reigate stone and Ragstone used as dressings in the medieval period. Bathstone was used to construct some of the 19th century elements.

A nunnery was founded at Minster in the late seventh century, which existed until it was destroyed by Viking incursions in the early 11th century. A church on or near the location of the present church would have been associated with the nunnery from its foundation. This church would also have been the main church in Thanet. Minster became the mother church to the four chuches of St John the Baptist at Margate, St Lawrence at Ramsgate, St Peter at Broadstairs and All Saints, Birchington.

The church and the manor of Minster was given to St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury in the early 11th century, when the monastic grange of Minster Abbey near the site of the present church which featured on Day 310 of the VM_365 project was established. The fabric of the present church originates in the Norman period, probably on the site of the earlier Anglo Saxon church building, although no evidence of the earlier church seems to survive in the the building.

The four churches  of Minster, St John the Baptist, St Lawrence, and St Peter were possessions of St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury unlike St Mary Magdalene, Monkton which featured on Day 317 of the VM_365 project and belonged to the estates of Christchurch Priory, Canterbury.

Parts of the early Norman church at Minster survive in the nave. The nave walls were pierced for arcades In the mid 12th century, to expand the space into newly constructed north and south aisles. In the late 12th century the western tower was added and in the lower sections of the tower reused Roman brick, probably originating from the nearby Roman villa at Abbey Farm, was used in its construction. The reused Roman brick can clearly be seen in the image above.

The eastern part of the church was rebuilt in the early 13th century, forming a cruciform church with large lancet lights.  The outer walls of the south aisle and east part of the north aisle of the nave were rebuilt and new windows were inserted in the early 14th century.

Crown-post roofs were built in the 15th century and at the same time the top of the tower was rebuilt with a  timber spire and a crenellated parapet. The stair-turret which can be seen on the right handside of the tower in the image above may also have been rebuilt at this time.

The church was heavily restored in the 1860’s, when the north aisle was completed as part of the restoration work.

References/Further Reading

Jones, H, and Berg, M. 2009. Norman Churches in the Canterbury Diocese. The History Press.

Tatton-Brown, T. 1996. St Mary Church, Minster in Thanet. Canterbury Diocese: Historical and Archaeological Survey. http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/01/03/MIT.htm

 

 

VM_365 Day 321 The parish church of St Nicholas, St Nicholas-at-Wade

VM 321Today’s image for Day 321 of the VM_365 project shows another of our standing archaeological remain, this time the church of St Nicholas, St Nicholas-at-Wade, near Birchington.  The earliest church at St Nicholas was built in the late 11th century and parts of it survive in the lower portions of the west wall of the nave. The original church was constructed of large flints and sandstone from the Thanet Beds.

By the mid 12th century a south aisle was added to the nave and the arcade still survives. A north aisle may have been built at the same time but was replaced in the early to mid 14th century.

The church was a Chapel to Reculver until the end of the 13th century along with Sarre and Shuart. In the late 12th or early 13th century, a new east end was built with a new long chancel and two smaller chapels on either side. New windows were inserted into the chapels and the chancel in the late 13th to early 14th century; traces of the original east lancet windows are still visible in the walls of the east chapels where they are cut through by later windows.

The church was enlarged in the mid 14th century after it became a parish church in its own right in 1310 and as a result of an increase in the local population. Major rebuilding of the nave was carried out with a completely new north aisle and arcade constructed in Ragstone and Caenstone. A new tower was also built at the same time and a new south porch added sometime after. In the late 15th century, a new clerestory to the nave was built and the top of the tower, the aisles and porch were crenellated with knapped flint parapets.

In the mid to late 18th century, the south chapel was used as the parish school and its brick chimney stack is still visible. The chancel was repaired, the east wall rebuilt and the nave restored in 1875 and 1876.

While at face value parish churches may seem to be a steady and unchanging part of the fabric of Thanet’s village landscapes, they represent buildings that were constructed from the late Anglo Saxon period and continues to evolve as architecture until the present day. The story of these buildings is preserved in their visible structure if we take the time to read them properly.