TQ9732 : Church of St Mary
taken 2 years ago, near to Kenardington, Kent, England
Grade II* listed.
A Saxon church at Kenardington dedicated to St Mary, is recorded in the Domesday Book. At this time an annual fee of 12d was paid to the monks of Christchurch Canterbury. This indicates that it is likely the monks were the original founders of the church.
The original church may have been wooden, then after the Norman Conquest of 1066 was replaced by a stone building.
There is a chancel, nave, south porch and west tower. The chancel and nave are 15th C. There has been much alteration over the years.
The tower dates from 1170 and is a square structure without buttresses. To the north side it has an unusual round tower, which carries the staircase to the belfry at the top of the main tower. The tower can not be accessed from the church.
In the 14th century, it is believed that the church was sacked by the French during the Hundred Years War, but there is no remaining evidence.
The church is another one a long way away from the village, which implies quarantine at the time of the Black Death.
In 1559 the church was struck by lightning, which started a fire causing the collapse of the nave, chancel and the north aisle. As a result the ruins were patched up to provide a smaller church more suited to the requirements of this small farming community. The bulk of the church was demolished, leaving the former south aisle and chapel to serve as the new church. This means that the north wall is virtually unrelieved by windows or monuments. On the south wall the original large windows were reduced in size by infilling the outer lights, leaving some excellent 'ghost' tracery visible.
Listed buildings and structures are officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance. There are over half a million listed structures in the United Kingdom, covered by around 375,000 listings.
Listed status is more commonly associated with buildings or groups of buildings, however it can cover many other structures, including bridges, headstones, steps, ponds, monuments, walls, phone boxes, wrecks, parks, and heritage sites, and in more recent times a road crossing (Abbey Road) and graffiti art (Banksy 'Spy-booth') have been included.
In England and Wales there are three main listing designations;
Grade I (2.5%) - exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important.
Grade II* (5.5%) - particularly important buildings of more than special interest.
Grade II (92%) - nationally important and of special interest.
There are also locally listed structures (at the discretion of local authorities) using A, B and C designations.
In Scotland three classifications are also used but the criteria are different. There are around 47,500 Listed buildings.
Category A (8%)- generally equivalent to Grade I and II* in England and Wales
Category B (51%)- this appears generally to cover the ground of Grade II, recognising national importance.
Category C (41%)- buildings of local importance, probably with some overlap with English Grade II.
In Northern Ireland the criteria are similar to Scotland, but the classifications are:
Grade A (2.3%)
Grade B+ (4.7%)
Grade B (93%)
Read more at Wikipedia Link