[TQ 61185918] St. George's Church [NAT] (1) Wrothham church is dedicated to St. George. It consists of three aisles and a chancel. (2) The church consists of a 14thc. chancel, a nave with north and south aisles, mostly of the 13th and 14th c. and a western 14thc. tower. (3) The church is at present in use for ecclesiastical purposes. Most windows are modern. There is a large ?14th c. south porch. The tower has a ribbed, pointed-arch passageway passing beneath it for pedestrians. Notice board dedication - St. George. GP/AO/59/187/7 from SW. (4) In normal use (5) TQ 6059-6159 WROTHAM C.P. THE SQUARE 7/36 (east side) 25.8.59 Church of St George GV I Church. Early C14 with C15 west tower; chancel restored 1860-61 by Newman and Billing, tower restored by R Wheeler, 1876. Random rubble, plain tiled roofs. Angle buttresses to tower, which has crenellated parapet and north-east turret. Passage through it north-south on ground-floor with 3-bay rib-vault, originally to allow processions to circle the church without descending into the road to the west of the church ('The Square'). Nave with gabled aisles and chancel with east window inserted 1958, reputedly from St Alban, Wood Street, City of London, Gothic survival of 1633-34. All other windows renewed. Low south porch with arched entrance and vaulted interior. Parvis chamber above. Interior. North aisle of 4 bays, south aisle of 3 bays, these respaced; both with circular arcade piers and double chamfered arches. Similar chancel arch. 2 bay chancel. Font. C13, stone, octagonal, 2 shallow sunk arches on each face. Pulpit. 1861. Stone, with marble shafts, supported on group of angels. Rood screen. C15. Wood with triple square-headed lights. Piscina. Cinquefoiled ogee-arch and hood-mould on ball flowers. Identical piscina in south aisle. Reredos in South Aisle, Ninian Campen, 1907. Benefactions boards under tower, C18 with fern-leaf surround. Wall-painting in chancel. Monuments. Brasses. Thomas Nysell, d.1498; John Burgoyn, c.1500; Thomas Pekham, d.1512; Reynold Pekham, d.1525; Hames Pekham, d.1532; William Clarke, d.1611; Elizabeth Crispe, d.1615. Wall Monuments. Robert Rychens, d.1588. Black marble slab showing kneeling family, set in alabaster framework. Nicholas Miller, erected 1661. Black tablet with bust in open pediment over. Lucretia Betenson d.c.1760. Bust in relief on draped roundel in concave surround. Perhaps by Nicholas Read, (R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660-1851). TQ 6059-6159 WROTHAM C.P. THE SQUARE 7/35 (east side) Wall to south-west of Church of St George GV II Wall. C18, rebuilt in C19. Brick on random rubble plinth, with brick parapet. L-shaped in plan. North-south stretch 8 feet high, east-west stretch 5 feet high. Gateway at right-hand end.

From the early Norman period (and probably the late Anglo-Saxon period), this was an important church belonging to the Archbishop. It has a large nave and chancel and two large gabled aisles.

As is usual, the nave is the earliest surviving part of the church, and it probably dates from the late 11th or early 12th century, though the only visible evidence for this is the (reset) tufa quoins at the south-west corner and the tufa quoins on the north-east side of the nave.

The chancel was completely rebuilt in the later 13th century, though all its windows have subsequently been replaced. Inside it, there is a roll-moulding going all the way around, below the windows, and on the south-east side is an ogee-headed piscina (with unusual ball-flower stops) of c. 1300. There is also an aumbry to the north-east. The chancel arch and the nave arcades are also later 13th century with round piers, though there is evidence that the nave arcades, with double chamfered arches, were rebuilt later. (There are only 3 wide bays on the south, but four on the north, and the western responds to the arcades are semi-octagonal with hollow chamfers, suggesting a rebuilding in the late 15th century.)

There is also a fire Purbeck marble octagonal font bowl of the 13th century on eight columns. It was reset on a new base in the 19th century. The nave clearly had received aisles by the 13th century, if not earlier, but the final enlargement of the church was in the early 14th century when the two aisles were completely rebuilt. The north aisle, which was terraced into the hill side, originally had a doorway (now blocked) at the west end of the north wall. It also contains an early 14th century tomb recess (restored) in the north wall towards the east, and a piscina in the south-east corner. The 14th century roof (a simple trussed rafter one) probably survives over this aisle, as do contemporary roofs over the nave and south aisle. The latter has moulded wall-plates and is still ceiled in. The three two-light square-headed windows on the north side of the north aisle are also all early 14th century, though restored externally.

The south aisle has had half its windows replaced later, but the fine `Decorated' east window is still there as well as a fine early 14th century south doorway (with a stoup, with pyramid stops, just inside the doorway on the east). Of unique interested is the spiral stair-turret in the north-east corner of the south aisle which leads up to a narrow gallery high above the chancel arch. Small rectangular slit windows look out into the nave and chancel, as well as onto the outside area on the east. The doorway into the south aisle at the bottom of the stair has a wide lancet above it with original glazing bars. This doorway is close to the altar, which was set in the cut-down window embrasure (there is an ogee-headed piscina in the south jamb opposite. (This was probably the altar to Our Lady). Two pairs of three-light `Decorated' windows were also inserted into the chancel at this time, as well as a three-light east window (destroyed in 1856). External buttresses seem also to have been added at this time, as well as a new chancel roof.

In the later 14th century two-light windows were inserted into the west walls of the aisles, and a south porch was added. This has a quadripartite rib vault in it (with an angel holding a shield as the boss). In the extreme south-west corner of the south aisle a doorway was made which leads to a spiral stair up to the first floor chamber over the porch (the stair turret was rebuilt in 1965). The upper parapet of the porch is crenellated. A new five-light east window was put into the north aisle in the 15th century (restored externally in Portland stone).

Later in the 15th century, a new west tower was added to the nave, which was entered by a tall perpendicular arch. A spiral stair was built on its north-east side to lead to the upper levels. Most unusual, however, is the vaulted passage under the western half of the tower. This was made because the ground drops away steeply to the main High road on the west, and it allowed processions to pass directly under the tower from the north-west to south-west part of the churchyard. The vaulted passage has three bays of quadripartite rib-vaults (in Reigate stone). The west window in the tower is a restored three-light window in the early 14th century (Decorated) style, and it may just possibly have come originally from the west wall of the nave. The upper part of the tower has a two-light round-headed window with a square hood-mould (on the south), and a crenellated parapet. There are also round-headed brick-linked windows here (restored by R Wheeler in 1876). Two extra bells were added to the peel of six in 1754 (all recast in 1911).

In the early 16th century, a new vestry was added to the north-west side of the chancel. Its north-west doorway is a restored 19th century one, but the square-headed windows on the north and east are original. (The diagonal buttresses have restored brick quoins). Under the chancel arch is a heavily restored early 16th century Rood-screen.

A major restoration of the church was carried out in 1860-1 under Newman and Billing, and tiled floors, pulpit, etc, put in. In 1907 a Sir Ninian Comper reredos was put in behind the south aisle altar, while the west window of St Alban Wood Street in London was inserted into the east wall of the chancel in 1958 to replace the 1856 one (it is in Portland Stone and dates from 1633-4 or 1682-7, ie Inigo Jones or Wren). (10)

Description from record TQ 65 NW 248:
The following text is from the original listed building designation:
TQ6059-6159 WROTHAM C.P. THE SQUARE 7/36 (east side) 25.8.59 Church of St George GV I
Church. Early C14 with C15 west tower; chancel restored 1860-61 by Newman and Billing, tower restored by R Wheeler, 1876. Random rubble, plain tiled roofs. Angle buttresses to tower, which has crenellated parapet and north-east turret. Passage through it north-south on ground-floor with 3-bay rib-vault, originally to allow processions to circle the church without descending into the road to the west of the church ('The Square'). Nave with gabled aisles and chancel with east window inserted 1958, reputedly from St Alban, Wood Street, City of London, Gothic survival of 1633-34. All other windows renewed. Low south porch with arched entrance and vaulted interior. Parvis chamber above. Interior. North aisle of 4 bays, south aisle of 3 bays, these respaced; both with circular arcade piers and double chamfered arches. Similar chancel arch. 2 bay chancel. Font. C13, stone, octagonal, 2 shallow sunk arches on each face. Pulpit. 1861. Stone, with marble shafts, supported on group of angels. Rood screen. C15. Wood with triple square-headed lights. Piscina. Cinquefoiled ogee-arch and hood-mould on ball flowers. Identical piscina in south aisle. Reredos in South Aisle, Ninian Campen, 1907. Benefactions boards under tower, C18 with fern-leaf surround. Wall-painting in chancel. Monuments. Brasses. Thomas Nysell, d.1498; John Burgoyn, c.1500; Thomas Pekham, d.1512; Reynold Pekham, d.1525; Hames Pekham, d.1532; William Clarke, d.1611; Elizabeth Crispe, d.1615. Wall Monuments. Robert Rychens, d.1588. Black marble slab showing kneeling family, set in alabaster framework. Nicholas Miller, erected 1661. Black tablet with bust in open pediment over. Lucretia Betenson d.c.1760. Bust in relief on draped roundel in concave surround. Perhaps by Nicholas Read, (R. Gunnis, Dictionary of British Sculptors, 1660-1851). Listing NGR: TQ6118359189 (11)

<1> OS 6" 1931 (OS Card Reference). SKE48326.

<2> Home Counties Mag., Vol.7, (1905) p. 264 (OS Card Reference). SKE44175.

<3> Arch. J., Vol.62, (1905), pp.181-2, (W.H. St. J. Hope) (OS Card Reference). SKE37159.

<4> F1 ASP 24-JUN-59 (OS Card Reference). SKE42263.

<5> F2 FGA 27-FEB-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE43336.

<6> DOE (HHR) Dist. of Tonbridge & Malling, Kent May 1984 42 (OS Card Reference). SKE40457.

<7> Bldgs of Eng W Kent & the Weald 1980 616-617 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE37930.

<8> Field report for monument TQ 65 NW 30 - June, 1959 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3370.

<9> Field report for monument TQ 65 NW 30 - February, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3371.

<10> Diocese of Canterbury (Tim Tatton-Brown), 1995, Church Survey - St. Georges Church, Wrotham. (Unpublished document). SKE7577.

<11> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.