St Giles, Shipbourne
St Giles, Shipbourne
St Giles is a Grade II parish church on Stumble Hill, Shipbourne, Kent, overlooking the village green, in the Diocese of Rochester.
- Location
- Shipbourne, Kent
- Country
- England
- County
- Kent
- City / town
- Shipbourne
- Address
- Stumble Hill, Shipbourne, Kent, TN11 9PF
- Postcode
- TN11 9PF
- Built
- 1879–81, replacing a 1721–22 church by James Gibbs
- Architect
- Maun and Saunders, for Edward Cazalet of Fairlawne
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Giles
- Diocese
- Rochester
- Parish
- Shipbourne
- Grade
- II
- Style
- Neo-Decorated
- Materials
- Coursed ragstone rubble with ashlar dressings; tiled roofs
- Grid reference
- TQ 591 521
- Opening hours
- Every day, 9am to 5pm or dusk if earlier.
- Access
- Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas
Overview
Historic England records fragmentary remains of a fourteenth-century chapel on the site after a complete rebuilding of 1721–22 by James Gibbs, itself replaced in 1879–81 by Maun and Saunders for Edward Cazalet of Fairlawne. The present church is a neo-Decorated nave-and-chancel building with transepts and a central tower, in coursed ragstone rubble with ashlar dressings and tiled roofs. The tower has pointed belfry openings, a crenellated parapet to a pyramidal tiled roof, corner gargoyles, and a north-east octagonal stair-tower. A gabled north-west porch has a columned arched entrance.
The interior has full-width nave arches with inlaid decoration, a wooden barrel vault on carved stone colonnettes, and a ribbed brick-and-stone vault to the crossing. The south transept holds a giant aedicule monument to Christopher Vane (d.1723) and his wife Elizabeth (d.1725), with their daughter kneeling below. One arch from the medieval chapel is built into the north transept. A photograph, elevation and plan of the Gibbs church are displayed in the church.