Summer & Autumn Visits & Lectures 2024

Three church tours are planned, all starting at 2pm. In each case timings for the rest of the tour and details of where to park will be given at the first church.

Wednesday 12 June: a visit to churches north-west of West Malling arranged by John Lumley tel 01233 756249. Tea will be provided at Addington.

We meet at St Peter & St Paul, Trottiscliffe ME19 5EE at 2pm. The church is part of an exquisitely pretty group, which also includes Court Lodge and a row of cottages, away from the village and beneath the scarp of the North Downs. It is small, 12^th century building with a Perpendicular tower. The interior is crowded with 18^th century furniture, much of it from Westminster Abbey, including a magnificent pulpit. Please park in Church Lane.

St Martin, Ryarsh ME19 5LB is again away from its village and surrounded by fields. From the south it looks a pretty, Perpendicular building: tower, south aisle and porch. But, as so often in Kent, this masks an older structure, partly early Norman and partly 14^th century. There is a Norman piscina – a great rarity; a Jacobean pulpit and good glass by Clayton and Bell.

St Margaret, Addington ME19 5BQ stands amongst trees on a large mound, this time close to the village. The body of the church is early Norman but the tower, very similar to that at Ryarsh, is of the 15^th century and the south chapel is dated 1463. It contains a spectacular wall monument by sculptor Joshua Marshall from the 1650s. The church has a fine array of brasses and good Victorian glass.

Wednesday 17 July:  a visit to three churches east of Faversham arranged by Amicia Oldfield tel 01795 886155/07791 183067. Tea will be provided at Hernhill.

We meet at 2pm at All Saints, Graveney ME13 9DU which is one of the most atmospheric churches in Kent because it is unrestored and has a beautiful interior still largely in its Georgian state. There is Norman evidence in the chancel but otherwise the church was mostly rebuilt in the 14^th century. Font, screens, pews, brasses and some glass are all late medieval and there is a fine 17^th century pulpit. The textures at this church are a delight. Parking is on the lane passing the church.

St Peter & St Paul, Boughton-under-Blean ME13 9NB. A 13^th century church with later accretions, beautifully sited on a hillock. The chancel, chapels and nave arcades are all a grand rebuilding of the late 13th century. The nave aisles and the tower are Perpendicular. The church has a 16^th century rood screen and some good monuments, including one signed by the peerless Epiphanius Evesham.

St Michael, Hernhill ME13 9JU struggles to compete with our first two churches but is nicely situated south of a pretty village green. It is a complete late medieval rebuilding, with chancel and chapel, aisled nave and tower. Again, the rood screen survives and there is an interesting array of 18^th and 19^th century glass, including some painted by the wife of an 1830s vicar.

Wednesday 18 September: a visit to churches south of Tenterden organised by Simon Evans tel 01580 891245/ 07710 553038. Tea will be provided at Rolvenden.

We meet at 2pm at St Mary, Northiam TN31 6NN which, please note, is in Sussex. This is a grand church, thanks to the addition of a large, aisled chancel and the equally large Frewen Mausoleum in the 1840s. The nave and tower to which these are attached are partly Norman and partly 13^th century. There are good fittings, glass and monuments. Parking is on the village streets.

St Peter, Newenden TN18 5PN, back in Kent, is an odd little building, much reduced in size by demolitions in 1700. It has some good fittings and glass, especially a spectacular late-Norman font.

St Mary the Virgin, Rolvenden TN17 4LS is a fine, large church mostly of the 14^th century with a lofty interior. The east end was rebuilt in the 15^th century. There are good monuments and fittings, including the elevated private pew of the Gybbon-Moneypenny family which is a remarkable sight.

Briggs Events

The Briggs Event is sponsored each year by the Friends to help the host church raise funds. The event may be a lecture, concert or a similar event. The Friends contribute up to £500 to the cost of a lecturer or performer and other associated costs of staging the event. No church wished to hold an event last year but in 2024 there are two, both organ recitals. That at St Mary, Platt will take place at 6pm on Saturday 11^th May and will be given by David Poulter, formerly Director of Music at Coventry, Chester and Liverpool Cathedrals. A flyer for this recital accompanies this annual report. The second will be given at 4.30pm on Saturday 13^th July by Francesca Massey, former Director of Music at Rochester Cathedral, at St Giles, Shipbourne; tickets can be purchased at the door.

If any church has proposals for an event in 2025, please contact Paul Britton (01732 365794; email pauljjbritton@live.co.uk).

Future Events

There will be an autumn lecture at Lenham on 17 October given by Cameron Newham, church historian and photographer, who will speak about his wonderful project to make a photographic record of all the rural parish churches of England. Needless to say, it will be copiously illustrated. Many of you may know of the outstanding quality of Cameron Newham’s photographs from his recently published book ‘Country Church Monuments’.