Listed Building: CHURCH OF ST MARY (102958)

ST 8026 GILLINGHAM HIGH STREET (north side) 12/117 Church of St Mary 16.8.60. GV I Parish Church, chancel C14, main body of church 1838-9, west tower 1908-9, south chapel and vestries 1921. Main body of church by Walker (Pevsner), tower by C E Ponting and south chapel and vestries by Caroe. Ashlar and coursed, squared rubble with ashlar dressings. Slate and lead roofs. Plan: Nave, chancel, west tower, north and south aisles and chapels, south vestry, north and south porches. Largely in the 'Decorated' style, windows having curvilinear tracery. Chancel of 5 bays with 2- light, C19 pointed windows and square-set 3-weathered stage buttresses. C19, pointed, 4-light east window. Moulded string course with ball-flower decoration and gargoyles. Nave has 6-bay clerestory with lancets. North chapel and north and south aisle have windows uniform with those of the chancel. East window of north chapel, west window of north aisle and east and west windows of south aisle are of 3-lights under pointed heads with vertical tracery. 2 storyed porches with coped gables and chamfered, pointed heads. Above doors and in east and west walls are windows uniform with those of the clerestorey. 3 stage west tower with square-set buttresses to lower 2 stages, string courses and embattled parapet with crocketted corner finials. North face has no division into stages and has a rectangular vice turret. Pointed, moulded west door. Pointed, 3-light west-window. Second-stage has 2-light, square-headed window and round window above. There are blind recesses north and south. Belfry windows of 2-lights with pointed heads and panel tracery. South chapel has 2-light, square headed windows with stopped labels and brattishing above. Internal featuers: 4-centred, chamfered chancel arch on foliage carved corbels; 2-centred, chamfered tower arch; 3-bay, 2-centred nave arcades on octagonal piers with capitals and bases; 2 bay north chapel arcade with 2-centred arches of 2 chamfered orders; 2 segmental-pointed arches to the south chapel; tie-beam truss nave roof with cusped scissor- braces, supported on head corbels; chancel has tie-beam truss roof with king-posts on corbels; south chapel has highly decorated tie beam roof with king-posts; the south chapel contains much high quality C20 work and has 2 4-centred head doors to vestry; quatrefoiled piscina in chancel; C14 restored sedilia; C16 benches and bench ends incorporated in modern seating; carved reredos of 1925-6 by H P Burke Downing and Nathaniel Hitch; C15 font with octagonal bowl with paterae - much worn. Monuments C17, C18 and C19 notably (1) that to Rev John Jesop 1625 and Dr Thomas Jesop, with two recumbunt effigies under arches with strapwork decoration (2) To Frances Dirdoe, 1724 - large wall monument with relief of 3 Graces. (3) To Sir Henry Dirdoe 1724 and others of his family - wall monument by John Bastard and Co. (4) To Edward Read 1779 - wall monument by F Lancashire and co. (RCHM, Dorset vol IV, pp 27-30, no 1. Newman J and Pevsner N, The Buildings of England: Dorset, Penguin, 1972, p 214/5). Listing NGR: ST8064126583

Record last edited

Nov 18 2019 9:21AM