John E. Vigars Kent Church Photographs
Image Source: John Salmon
A huge church that is accessed most days through the coffee shop next door. Saxon in its origins it was extended many times as befits a market town on the main London-Dover road. Today it consists of nave and chancel with aisles and chapels. Much remodelled in the nineteenth century (by Blomfield) and again late in the 20th it may lack atmosphere, but it certainly does not lack appeal.... or its part in national history. The body of Henry V rested here overnight on its journey back from France in 1422. Behind the painting in a medieval vestry, itself a rarity. There are lots of brasses and a large monument to John Spilman who introduced papermaking here in the seventeenth century. In the south chapel is a huge wall painting of St. George - the largest medieval painting in Kent.
Church Data
1851 Census Details
Seating Capacity: 800
Morning Attendance: 685
Afternoon Attendance: 545
Evening Attendance: No service
Architecture Details
Original Build Date/Architect: Medieval
Restoration: 1845
Second Restoration: 1863 Blomfield
Notes
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