St Mary’s Church High Halden: A rare survival
St Mary’s Church, High Halden is a Grade 1 listed church courtesy of its unique narthex or tower lobby. The felling date of the main timbers for the tower lobby has a dendro-chronology date between 1470–1490, meaning the tower was likely constructed around the beginning of the 16th century. In around 1900, Rev. Livett surveyed the church, and his findings were published in Archaeologia Cantiana (26, 295–315).
The quoins (or corner-stones) he found in the west wall of the church prove that this was the original south-west corner of the nave. The Early-English south wall and lancet window in the chancel date from the construction of the south aisle and lengthening of the chancel in the 13th century. The original church is much earlier, and Livett was able to date it to the early 12th century, a time when Norman architectural style was used in church construction.
However, there is no sign of this Norman architectural style in St Mary’s; the survival of its many original features over 900 years prove it to be the work of a skilled Master-mason.
[pg7]H.M. and Joan Taylor, writing in Anglo-Saxon Architecture (Vol. 1 p. 2) say: ‘it is reasonable to believe that some surviving buildings in the styles – of the later Anglo-Saxon periods were erected by AngloSaxon workmen in the manner to which they were accustomed but after the Norman Conquest’.
Today, the south aisle has been extended to form the South – or Lady – Chapel which opens into the chancel; the narthex was built onto the west wall, but the size and shape of the nave and chancel remain as they were after the 13th-century extension. Undoubtedly this, with the increased weight of the roofs, contributed to the collapse of the original chancel arch which was replaced in the 14th century by the great arch which now dominates the east wall of the nave. New, lower-pitched roofs were built at the same time. To connect with the new aisle, the nave arches were probably cut out of the original south wall by stonemasons using techniques which avoided disturbing the surrounding stonework. The resulting arcade was replaced by a fine 15thcentury one which still supports the upper part of the rubble wall.
The west wall is exceptionally high and narrow and its stonework reminiscent of Saxon churches near Winchester. The wall rises over a large entrance arch which was unlikely to have been built until it was protected from the elements by the narthex. Reused timbers used in the construction of the narthex suggest that there was probably a much smaller porch attached to the west wall before the tower construction.
The north wall remains, constructed of rubble set in mortar with patches of white plaster on the outer side. It stands 20 feet high above ground level and is some 2 feet 9 inches thick, a typically Saxon measurement (AngloSaxon Architecture Vol.1 p. 12). The undisturbed stonework shows that there never was a doorway, but a 14th-century window probably replaces an earlier version. At the east end of the wall there was a porticus enlarged in the 15th century to form the North Chapel.
[fg]jpg|Fig 1: Rev. Livett’s plan drawing of High Halden Church, Kent (1903).[/fg]
[fg]jpg|Fig 2: Quoins recorded by Rev. Livett.[/fg]
[fg]jpg|Fig 3: SW corner of the church and the small 15th-century porch.[/fg]
[fg]jpg|Fig 4: The North chapel – no striking division between porticus and extension except for table-stone[/fg]
[pg8]Today a 15th-century arch leads into this chapel, but traces of bolster (vertical) stone-dressing suggest that it was preceded by a 13thcentury one replacing the porticus doorway. The chapel has a plinth running along its west wall, and the change in the table-stone on top of it shows where the porticus ended and the extension began.
Over the centuries every window and arch has been altered, and only the lancet window in the chancel has survived untouched. However, there are two small round windows or vent holes, made by cutting circular holes in square blocks of sandstone, which are set high in the west wall. These alone merit further investigation.
The ground plan of the original church is virtually unchanged since the 13th century. It reveals a long, narrow nave with a western entrance and the replacement chancel arch leading to what was, formerly, a small squarish chancel. The uninterrupted north wall has a porticus at the east end, but the conversion of the south wall to an arcade means that it is impossible to know the original features of this wall.
The Taylors, writing about the style of small Saxon churches, say: ‘the majority of chancels are roughly square in plan whereas the naves tend to be longer in proportion to their width than usual after the Conquest.’
Talking about specific plans, they mention: ‘the small, early Kentish type of church with side chapels or porticus opening from the eastern part of the nave’. (AngloSaxon Architecture Vol. 1 p. 13). They also define this plan as the only one ‘that does not appear in Norman practice’. (Anglo-Saxon Architecture Vol. 111 Ch.15 p. 763)
This specifically Kentish plan appears to match the existing ground plan of High Halden church except for the symmetrical north and south walls. This symmetry was probably true of St Mary’s but cannot be proven since the south wall has gone. Nevertheless, the survival of so much original fabric means that it is impossible to deny the overall impression that the church was designed and built by Anglo-Saxon masons. It is a fantastic survival in this region of the Weald and surely demands both recognition and protection.
[fg]jpg|Figs 5 & 6: Plinths at the bottom NW corner of the north chapel and the junction of the two table-stones where the porticus wall met the 14th century one & table-stone on top of the plinth showing where porticus ended and 14th-century chapel began.|Image[/fg]
[fg]jpg|Fig 7: This is the hole with wire and glass. The other (no picture) just a piece of stone in the hole. There seem to be signs of stone chiselling around the rim.|Image[/fg]
References
Rev Livett G. M. F.S.A., 1904. The Architectural History of High Halden Church, Kent. Archaeologia Cantiana 26, 295–315.
Taylor, H. M. & Taylor, J., 2011. Anglo-Saxon Architecture Vols 1 & 3. Cambridge University Press.