St Peter's Church, Newenden, Kent

St Peter's Church, Newenden Church

Image Source: John Vigar

An eye-catching tower and spire by G.M. Hills (architect of St Michael's, Tenterden), built in 1859, make a very plain fragment of a much larger medieval church pleasing to the eye. The original west tower and chancel were demolished in the seventeenth century, apparently because of their instability. The congregation struggled on with what was left until 1930 when a new chancel was built in the Romanesque style to the designs of Captain Shore of the nearby village of Northiam. It shows just how accomplished local architects who have a real sensitivity for old buildings can be. The contents of the church - pulpit of 1639, Royal Arms of George IV and modern altar rails - are all overshadowed by the famous twelfth-century font. It has excellent crisp carvings of beasts including a wyvern and lion, but if its sculptor had some grand plan then it has been lost to twentieth-century eyes, for the designs on each side of the font have no apparent relationship to each other.

1851 Census Details

Seating Capacity: 110

Morning Attendance: No service

Afternoon Attendance: 77

Evening Attendance: No service

Architecture Details

Original Build Date/Architect: Medieval

Restoration: G M Hills 1859

Second Restoration:

Notes

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