St Mary’s Church, Wingham: A Medieval Parish and Collegiate Church
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Primary era
- Medieval
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Early Modern
- Civilizations
- English
- Site type
- Religious
- Remains
- Church
On this page10 sections
History
St Mary’s Church, Wingham, in the United Kingdom, is an Anglican parish church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin. Its principal medieval development belongs to the early 13th century, when an earlier church was expanded with an aisled nave and either transepts or chapels opening from the chancel.
Medieval origins and collegiate foundation
The earliest surviving parts date from the late 12th century. They include elements of the south transept and the blocked western arches of the north chapel. By about the turn of the 13th century, the church had acquired a nave flanked by aisles and a more developed eastern plan.
In 1282, John Peckham, the medieval Archbishop of Canterbury, founded a College of Canons at Wingham. The college consisted of a provost and six canons, who used St Mary’s as their church. Its foundation brought substantial rebuilding, including the chancel and transepts, and the institution remained in existence until the Tudor suppression of colleges and chantries in 1548.
Late medieval rebuilding
The nave and south aisle were reconstructed gradually from the late 15th century. Bequests for the work were recorded between 1526 and 1562, and construction continued into the 1540s, during the period surrounding the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII’s closure and confiscation of England’s monastic houses.
In 1555, money intended for the rebuilding was embezzled by a local brewer. The nave arcade was consequently completed in timber rather than the planned stone. This decision contributed to the church’s distinctive later appearance and preserved an unusual solution to an unfinished rebuilding scheme.
Restoration and modern status
Benjamin Ferrey restored the church in 1874 and 1875, concentrating mainly on the eastern chancel. The chancel arch and east window were repaired, while plaster that had concealed the braces of the timber arcade behind forms resembling Doric columns was removed, exposing the medieval construction again.
St Mary’s now forms part of a joint benefice with St Vincent of Saragossa, Littlebourne, St Andrew’s, Wickhambreaux, and St John’s, Ickham. The building has been listed at Grade I, England’s highest statutory category for buildings of exceptional architectural or historic interest, since 11 October 1963.
Remains
St Mary’s retains fabric from several centuries, arranged around a medieval nave, transepts, chapels, chancel, and west tower. The surviving plan combines late-12th- and late-13th-century work with the later rebuilding of the nave and south aisle, while the unreconstructed north aisle gives the church an asymmetrical form.
Chancel, chapels, and transepts
The eastern parts include the late-13th-century chancel and transeptal chapels. The north chapel was originally designed as a counterpart to the south transept, and both spaces open into the chancel through matching Early English arches. Reused Early Norman masonry appears in the north and west walls of the north chapel, while its blocked western arches preserve part of the late-12th-century building.
The north transept has a two-storey extension projecting eastward, added in the 15th century. Its north window is made of timber and may date from the 18th century. The chancel windows rest on a continuous horizontal string course and retain their original hood moulds. At the east end, a cinquefoiled piscina, a basin for washing communion vessels, and triple sedilia, or clergy seats beside the altar, have flattened arches carried on detached shafts with moulded caps and bases.
West tower and south porch
The west tower was begun in the late 13th century, although the tower and transepts are generally dated to the 14th century. Its lower stage retains remains of lancet windows. Above it is a recessed spire, 63 feet high, built in a Hertfordshire style. Angle buttresses rise almost to the top, and a stair turret is incorporated into the north-west side.
The tower’s west window has been renewed. Inside, a high tower arch stands on octagonal responds, whose capitals are decorated with four-petalled flowers. The 14th-century south porch survives, although its upper floor has been lost.
Nave and aisle rebuilding
The late-15th- and early-16th-century rebuilding produced the present nave and south aisle. Their walls use carefully laid knapped flint with rubble stone, and triangular stones are incorporated into the south wall. The north aisle was not rebuilt, leaving the medieval church with an uneven arrangement of aisles and supporting its characteristic asymmetry.
The nave arcade is formed from unmoulded timber posts with relatively weak bracing rather than the stone piers originally intended. The braces were later plastered into shapes resembling Doric columns, then uncovered during Ferrey’s restoration. A 15th-century stone reredos, an ornamental panel behind an altar, is reputed to have come from Troyes in France. Its upper part shows five scenes from the Passion of Christ, while the lower part depicts the Last Supper and the Adoration of the Kings.
Medieval furnishings and glass
The base of a 15th-century rood screen survives. The chancel contains seven misericords, projecting supports beneath folding choir seats, with four on the north side and three on the south. The southern examples are older and probably date from the early 14th century.
Early-14th-century grisaille glass, largely monochrome painted or stained glass in grey tones, remains in the head of the chancel’s south window. The east window contains stained glass installed in 1919, with brightly coloured scenes from the Passion.
Memorials and organ
The south chapel contains a tablet monument to Charles Tripp, who died in 1624. In the east end of the north chapel stands a monument to Sir Thomas Palmer, dated 1624 and sculpted by Nicholas Stone, a leading English sculptor of the early 17th century. The chapel also contains a monument to a second Thomas Palmer, who died in 1656, erected in 1718, together with a double-tablet monument to Streynsham Master, who died in that year.
A free-standing monument to the Oxenden family, dated 1682, occupies the centre of the south transept. The south aisle contains a tablet monument to Thomas Cinder, who died in 1719, and a later monument to William Miller, who died in 1861. The church’s three-manual pipe organ was made by Forster and Andrews in 1886.
