Nominal: 868 Hz Weight: 793 lbs Diameter: 34.13" Bell 1 of 6
Founded by John Taylor & Co 1880
Dove Bell ID: 4667 Tower ID: 10750 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Monkton: St Mary Magdalene
Overview
Grid reference: TR 279 652
The tall, austere tower of Monkton church is a familiar feature of the skyline of this part of Kent. It is of three receding stages separated by worn stringcourses, and has no buttresses (indeed the whole church lacks buttresses).
Visiting and facilities
Building is open for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower, aisleless nave and north porch, chancel.
Footprint of Church buildings: 291 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
The church appears to date basically from about 1190, and a north aisle has been demolished, probably in the fifteenth century when the church was rebuilt, the chancel arch heightened and new windows were inserted. The church was restored in 1860-61 by C.A. Beazley.
Exterior Description
The tall, austere tower of Monkton church is a familiar feature of the skyline of this part of Kent. It is of three receding stages separated by worn stringcourses, and has no buttresses (indeed the whole church lacks buttresses). The lowest stage is the tallest and has a two-centred west doorway with arch and jambs having continuous mouldings which are now very weathered; the stops, for example, have vanished altogether. The arch is surrounded by prominent voussoirs which have weathered with dramatic effect. Above the doorway is a single lancet, and there is a single blocked lancet in the north and south walls. The middle stage has a thin rectangular light in the west face and a blocked lancet in the north face; the south wall seems always to have been blind. The uppermost stage has two trefoil-headed lights in each face and a very plain straight parapet above a moulded stringcourse.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
19th Century
Some nineteenth-century grisaille in the north chancel window
Stained Glass
Medieval
One mediaeval fragment in the highest tracery light of the east window, a leopard with its tongue out, in silver stain.
Interior
Interior Description
The nave is long and tall, with three fifteenth-century windows equally spaced in the south wall, which is rendered. Near the easternmost window, however, the stone frame of a Norman window is visible high in the wall. There is also, near the middle window, a low blocked doorway. The north wall has three similar fifteenth century windows, but since there is no rendering, it is possible to see that there has once been a north aisle, and the five painted arches of the arcade are embedded in the wall. The north porch has a two-centred outer arch and small trefoil-headed lights in the east and west wall.
The chancel has also been plastered, but the protective covering has fallen away in some places. The north and south walls are symmetrical, with single two-light windows like those in the nave walls near the west end but no other visible architectural features. The east wall has a large three-light window of the same period with cinquefoil-headed main lights of equal height and panel tracery.
At the west end the tower arch has two square orders on square responds of the simplest pattern and the floor is paved with red, buff and black tiles. The pews stand on timber platforms. The roof is fifteenth-century and has four cambered tie-beams with king-posts and four-way struts. Beside the door is a simple chamfered arch for a stoup.
The chancel arch is tall, with a two-centred arch which is slightly chamfered carried on semi-circular responds with scallop capitals (that on the south with a head at the corner, sticking its tongue out) and waterholding bases with spurs decorated with spiral whorls. Near the tops of the responds are inset fifteenth-century brackets terminating in knots for the rood-beam. The chancel is raised a matter of a few inches above the nave and is similarly floored; before 1860 it was a step below the level of the nave. It has two tie-beams to the roof similar to those in the nave and, in the south-east corner, a piscina now at floor level with a relatively large round arch and a circular drain.
Fixtures and fittings
Altar
17th Century
The altar is a seventeenth-century communion table with stout Tuscan column legs and arches pendant from the single rail and primitive claw feet.
Reredos
The reredos is of oak, with five trefoil-headed panels enclosing paintings of Christ and The Four Evangelists, oddly represented as standing in a row behind a table and against gold grounds. Rather in the style of Burne-Jones, painted in 1903.
Pulpit
The pulpit is Jacobean, an irregular hexagon in shape, with round-arched panels and cockshead hinges on the door. Each panel is inlaid with a small arabesque in the middle.
Lectern
The lectern is a simple brass desk.
Font (object)
c.1890
The font is of mottled reddish serpentine, highly polished, probably of c.1890, octagonal.
Organ (object)
Early 19th Century
The organ is a small early nineteenth-century instrument in a pretty Gothick case of mahogany.
Bells
Nominal: 1461.8 Hz Weight: 325 lbs Diameter: 24" Bell 2 of 6
Founded by Mears & Stainbank 1961
Dove Bell ID: 31808 Tower ID: 10750 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: unturned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1298.7 Hz Weight: 399 lbs Diameter: 26.13" Bell 3 of 6
Founded by Gillett & Johnston 1938
Dove Bell ID: 31809 Tower ID: 10750 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: quarter Cracked: No
Nominal: 1159 Hz Weight: 386 lbs Diameter: 27.25" Bell 4 of 6
Founded by Joseph Hatch 1633
Dove Bell ID: 31810 Tower ID: 10750 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: turned Cracked: No
Nominal: 1095.5 Hz Weight: 405 lbs Diameter: 28.5" Bell 5 of 6
Founded by Thomas Palmer 1661
Dove Bell ID: 31811 Tower ID: 10750 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: turned Cracked: No
Nominal: 975 Hz Weight: 563 lbs Diameter: 32" Bell 6 of 6
Founded by Joseph Hatch 1615
Dove Bell ID: 31812 Tower ID: 10750 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Turnings: turned Cracked: No
Churchyard
Grid reference: TR 279 652
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
The churchyard has war graves.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Submit a change
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