Historic Churches in Kent

Penshurst's parish church dates to the 12th century and boasts magnificent memorials to generations of the sidney family of Penshurst Place. Look for the sidney Chapel, a rare medieval dole table, and a 13th-century carving known as the Smiling Lady of Penshurst.
High Street, Penshurst, Kent, England, TN11 8BL

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Heritage Highlight: Sidney family memorials

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Pluckley is known as the most haunted village in England, but there's more to see than apparitions! For a start, there's the lovely old parish church of St Nicholas. There was a church at Pluckley at least as early as AD 1090, though it seems very likely that a Saxon building must have preceded it. The oldest section of the current church is the north-west corner of the nave, which dates to the Norman period.
Station Road, Pluckley, Kent, England, TN27 0QS

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Heritage Highlight: A very nice collection of medieval and Tudor brasses.

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Holy Trinity Church in Queenborough was built by Edward III and opened in 1667 to serve King Edward's planned town and castle. Highlights include a magnificent painted ceiling, dated to 1698, a Jacobean font and font cover, and a tablet commemorating Henry Knight, one of the first European mariners to explore the Arctic.
High Street, Queenborough, Kent, England, ME11 5AG

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Heritage Highlight: Superb 1698 painted ceiling

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A late Saxon church, founded in 1062 as a chapel of ease for Minster Abbey. Queen Victoria worshipped here as a child, and the churchyard is full of over 1400 memorials. The d'Este Mausoleum commemorates two grandchildren of George II, and there is a memorial to Sir William Garrow, the barrister who established the legal premise of 'innocent until proven guilty'.
High Street St Lawrence, Ramsgate, Kent, England, CT11 0QT

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Although it is overshadowed by its near neighbour Rochester Castle, the cathedral has a fascinating history. Second only to Canterbury in age (the see was established in 604). For all its early history, the cathedral as we see it is mostly 12th century. The west door is a notable example of Romanesque sculpture. Rochester became an important pilgrimage centre in the 13th century when William of Perth, a Scot on his way to the Holy Land, was murdered there, and miracles were reported at his tomb. The pilgrims paid for the choir and presbytery.
Garth House, The Precinct, Rochester, Kent, England, ME1 1SX

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The first church at Rolvenden was recorded in 1090. In was probably a wooden building of Saxon origin. In the 12th and 13th centuries that early building was replaced by the current stone church, which was then heavily remodelled in the 14th century to form the church we see today.
Rolvenden, Kent, England

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Heritage Highlight: 18th-century squire's pew, raised up above the chapel

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A lovely Norman church full of historic interest. Carved angels decorate the nave roof, and there are medieval tiles in St Margaret's Chapel. The 15th-century heraldic font bears the arms of Sandwich, and there are beautifully carved medieval choir stalls in the chancel.
Church Street, Sandwich, Kent, England, CT13 9EH

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Heritage Highlight: Beautiful Norman tower

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St Mary's church stands on the site of a 7th-century convent in the heart of the historic town of Sandwich. The church dates to the Norman period and incorporates many Norman features, which is somewhat unusual given that the town was sacked by the French in 1217 and again in 1457.
Strand Street, Sandwich, Kent, England, CT13 9EU

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Heritage Highlight: Ancient Saxon foundations

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The unmistakable outline of St Peter's Church is visible throughout the historic core of Sandwich, due to its distinctive onion-shaped tower dome. The first church on this site was built in the Norman period, and parts of that early medieval church can be found in the fabric of the current building.
Market Street, Sandwich, Kent, England, CT13 9EQ

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The parish church of Smarden is known as the Barn of Kent, a tribute to the width of its aisleless nave. The nave is 36 feet in width and is supported by a scissor-beam roof system of intersecting timbers.
Cage Lane, Smarden, Kent, England, TN72 8QD

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Heritage Highlight: The scissor beam roof is a triumph of 14th-century timber construction.

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