St Mary's Church, Lower Hardres, Kent

St Mary's Church, Lower Hardres Church

Image Source: Rob Baker 2024

Dedicated to St. Mary's, Lower Hardres' church is a late Georgian-era rebuilding of a 12th century medieval church which had fallen into dilapidation. James Tillard, of Street End House (then in the neighbouring parish of Petham) paid £2,000 for the rebuilding which took place between 1831-32. The architects were Rickman and Hutchinson (Thomas Rickman and Henry Hutchinson). Both were Gothic Revival architects in a pre-Ecclesiological decade. Neither men lived long enough to see the impact of Victorian Gothic architecture which was soon to dominate the late 19th century. Hutchinson, the junior partner, died in 1831 aged just 31 while Rickman died in 1841 at the age of 64. Their design at Lower Hardres is basically an austere flint Georgian "preaching box" but with a number of Gothic Revival features. The church has a seperate chancel with its own arch - a marked shift from the previous Classical period. In the east wall are three lancet windows in the Early English style. There is a western baptistry, again underneath its own arch; and a south-western tower with an octagonal middle stage and a broached spire.This is somewhat unique among Kent's parish churches and something of a local landmark.There are some remnants belonging to the old church.The font is probably original to the earliest church on the site. It has been dated to 1217 and is constructed from Bethersden marble.There are some painted coats-of-arms fitted in the westernmost lancet windows of the nave. It is hard to tell how old these are and whether they were ever in the old church or not, but they most probably date from the 16th or 17th century.The priest's stall, above a raised step in the easternmost part of the nave, has a pair of poppy headed ends which are clearly older than the rest of the chair which has been refurbished.At a guess, I would say they were made in the 15th century. They certainly pre-date Rickman and Hutchinson's church.The east windows date from c1847 and feature three figures in togas carrying a banner, a sword and a shield with angels above.Each figure is standing on a plinth bring supported by winged cherubs (slimmed down versions!) representing the Past, Present and the Future. Had the designer been inspired by a certain now-famous 1842 novella by Charles Dickens I wonder?!These windows are completely different to the mass-produced workmanship of the late 19th century.Somewhat incredibly they remained hidden from view for over 60 years between 1940 and 2005.During the Second World War they were sensibly blocked up to avoid blast damage.Once the hostilities were over they remained blocked. Even if they were not, they would still have been obscured by the wooden reredos and side curtains given in memory of Rev. James Deane, who died in 1919. This reredos and its altar have since been moved to the baptistry. Twentieth century Kent historians have described the church as "ugly" and "uninspired." Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and St. Mary's is certainly different from many rural churches, and quite unexpected if one happened to be expecting a typical medieval church. In a strange and bizarre way, I actually rather like it! Text by Rob Baker.

1851 Census Details

Seating Capacity: 200

Morning Attendance: 82

Afternoon Attendance: No service

Evening Attendance: No service

Architecture Details

Original Build Date/Architect: Rickman 1831

Restoration:

Second Restoration:

Notes

Website

http://www.bridgechurch.co.uk

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