The Parish Church of

St Margaret Rainham

Souvenir Guide

Welcome

Welcome to the Parish Church of St. Margaret.

Christian worship has been offered to Almighty God on this site since at least1100 AD when the church was mentioned in a document, although it is very likelyit existed before the Norman Conquest.

You are very welcome to join us at any of the services held at the church. If you areunable to do so then, before you leave this beautiful building, please say a prayer ofthanks to Almighty God, for those who built this Church, for all those who labour topreserve it for future generations, and for all who worship here now.

Acknowledgements

This booklet has been provided by the Friends of St. Margaret’s Church and allproceeds from the sale will go towards the upkeep of the church.

The text was supplied by David Noakes and the photographs by Tony Fairclough.It was designed and produced by John Guy (see www.johnguy.org.uk).

If you would like to consider becoming a Friend of St. Margaret’s, please contactthe Parish Office on 01634 362023 or email: office@rainhamchurch.co.uk

The Parish

The presentParish of

Rainham is a verylarge one and hasover 30,000 peopleliving within itsboundary.

There was a villagehere by 811 ADwhen a charterrecords a grantof land at'Roegingaham' toWulfrid, Archbishopof Canterbury. In 1137 Robert de Crevecoeurgave Rainham Church and 18 acres of land toLeeds Priory, which he had founded. This meantthat the abbot was also the rector ofRainham and would have appointedthe vicar as the abbey's representa-tive to act as the parish priest.

After Leeds Priory was dissolved byHenry VIII, vicars were appointed bythe Archbishop of Canterbury, whobecame Patron of the Parish. Thenames of most of the vicars since1282 are listed on a display insidethe church.

The Parish was transferred fromCanterbury to the Diocese ofRochester in 1938, when thePatron then became the Bishopof Rochester.

The 14th century oak Parish Chest

South aisle window

The Tufton Chapel

The Church of StMargaret

The present church building is almostentirely of Gothic design, with just a

few remains of the Norman church stillincorporated in the east wall of thechancel. The 13th century EarlyEnglish style can be seen in the chancel,the 14th century period, known as theDecorated, represented in the nave andaisle, with the latest period of Gothicarchitecture, the Perpendicular,most obvious in the 15thcentury tower.

The church itself is builtof Kentish ragstone andflint. The churchunderwent majorrestoration in the1860's and 70's,and there havebeen several furtherimportant periods ofreconstruction in the20th and again inthis century.

The Nave

The 14th century nave, although built in the Decoratedstyle, is very plain and almost all the roof timbers that

you see are original. Most of the window stonework wasreplaced in the 19th century. The stained glass of thesouth-east window is by Hardman (1871). You can alsosee both sets of the original 14th century south porchdoors (shown right).

The most interesting feature in the nave is the celure(pictured below) which is unique and once formed acanopy for a rood screen. It was painted in the 1460's onthe orders of Sir Thomas St Leger, who married EdwardIV's sister, and depicted the King's badge of the Sun in Splendour. This waschanged rapidly after the demise of the House of York, following the Wars of theRoses, with the rose of Lancaster.

The Tower

The tower is a major local landmark and was builtabout 1480. It stands 30m (100ft) high with an

octagonal stair turret probably housing a brazier at thetop to act as one of a chain of beacons between coastand capital. The tower houses a peal of eight bells, the

first being cast before the time of the Spanish Armada. Afurther five were cast before 1773, the last two in 1913.

The mediaeval wall paintings andconsecration crosses you see were

uncovered in the 1920's following achance discovery by workmen of a crossbeneath the surface of the south wall.The consecration crosses date from thereconstruction of the nave in the 14thcentury. In the chancel are the earliestremaining parts of the building in theform of 13th century wall arcading.There are three sedilia and nearby is a13th century piscina. By comparisonyou will also see the newest addition tothe chancel, the Millennium Cross,made out of branches of our 1000 yearold yew tree, which can be seen in thechurchyard.

Between the chancel and chapel is thearcade, with the two arches nearestthe nave dating from the 13th century.

The parclose screen inserted into the arcade is a very fine example of 15thcentury woodwork - note the interesting carving. To the north of the chancel liesa small chapel, sometimes called the Tufton chapel, but in fact it is dedicated toSt John the Baptist, where the very late Perpendicular window replaced a muchearlier lancet window. You will also notice an opening where stairs once led to agallery and the rood screen loft. The chapel also houses a particularly fine 14thcentury oak chest.

Brass of William Bloor, dated 1529

Detail of the15th centuryparclosescreen

The original 14th centurysouth porch doors

Monuments

The oldest monument in the church is a very short 13th century 'tomb chest',bearing a cross, which lies in the south east corner of the chapel. It stands on

the floor between the chancel and chapel. Next to it is a very short table tomb.Beside the east window is a memorial to Thomas Norreys, a commissioner in thenavy who died in 1624. Also in the chancel are a number of brasses. The oldestlies between the choir stalls and is that of James Donet who died in 1409, but onlythe inscription survives. There are others of interest, including William Bloor 1529,one dated 1500 and another of Charles Garlick, who died in 1573. The chapelcontains two large marble monuments commemorating members of the Tuftonfamily. One of these is of Nicholas, 3rd Earl of Thanet, who died in 1679 and twicesuffered periods of imprisonment under Cromwell. The other is that of his youngerbrother George, a soldier. The vault under the chapel contains other members ofthe Tufton family.

St. Margaret’s Church, Rainham, KentGround Plan

Chancel

TuftonChapel

Nave

North Aisle

C15thTower

C14thPorch & doors

Offices

N

(Not drawn to scale)

Celure, ceilingcanopy (over)

Medieval wallpaintings

ParcloseScreen(C15th)

C14thChest

St. Margaret ofAntioch window

Font.

C19thPorch

Altars

TuftonMemorials

Yew CrossC13th Tomb

Medievalconsecration

crosses

+