This church is a Grade I listed building with a fourteenth century arch over the west doorway. The nave has a hanging rood designed by Martin Travers (1967).
The south chapel is built of flint and was enlarged in 1655 and includes a monument to Sir Edward Hales.
Sir Edward Hales, 1st Baronet, was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1605 and 1648. He supported the Parliamentarian side in the English Civil War. Hales was son to William Hales of Tenterden and Elizabeth Johnson. His paternal grandfather was Edward Hales the Baron of the Exchequer and brother of James Hales whose suicide is thought to be alluded to in Shakespeare’s Hamlet during the gravediggers speech.
The interior of the church is well used but well kept and there were several examples of help offered to the local community on display including food parcels.
The graveyard is on multiple levels and split by the church building. Special mention to Donald John Dean (1897-1985) who was originally from Herne Hill in London. He was the recipient of the Victoria Cross during World War I for actions near Lens in September 1918. Prior to that he served at the Battle of the Somme and the Battle of Vimy Ridge. He remained in the army after the war ended and then saw action during World War II during the evacuation of ports at Boulangne and Dunkirk. He then served in Madagascar and the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy. As well as the Victoria Cross he received the Order of the British Empire, the Danish Order of the Dannebrog and the Territorial Decoration as well as being mentioned twice in dispatches. His online memorial at Find A Grave is here.
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