St Peter & St Paul, Dymchurch
St Peter and St Paul, Dymchurch
St Peter and St Paul is a Grade II* parish church on Hythe Road (listed as High Street), Dymchurch, on Romney Marsh, Kent, in the Diocese of Canterbury.
- Location
- Dymchurch, Kent
- Country
- England
- County
- Kent
- City / town
- Dymchurch
- Address
- Hythe Road, Dymchurch, Kent, TN29 0LD
- Postcode
- TN29 0LD
- Built
- C12 and C13; restored 1821; porch and vestry 1910
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Peter and Paul
- Diocese
- Canterbury
- Parish
- Dymchurch
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Norman with C13 and C19 work
- Materials
- Caen stone with Kentish ragstone; rendered mortar; partly timber-framed tower with tile-hung upper stage; slate nave roof, plain tiles to chancel, wood shingles to tower
- Grid reference
- TR 103 298
- Opening hours
- Sorry, there are no regular opening times for this church.
- Access
- Level access to the main areas. Accessible toilets nearby
Overview
Historic England dates the parish church to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, restored in 1821. Fabric is stone with rendered mortar. The small west tower of 1821, built between two existing stone buttresses, is partly timber-framed with a tile-hung upper stage, a pyramidal roof and wood shingles. The nave has a slate roof and the chancel plain tiles. The plan is west tower, aisleless nave, south porch of 1910 and twelfth-century chancel; a 1910 north-east vestry is excluded from the listing.
The inner west doorway is twelfth century, with a round-headed arch of three orders (plain, fat roll and chevrons) on scalloped cushion capitals. The south doorway is similar, with nailhead in the base moulding. In 1821 the nave was widened to the north and the original Norman tower replaced. The twelfth-century chancel arch, decorated to the west with roll and chevrons, remains. Heritage Open Days notes medieval scratch dials and the church's association with Russell Thorndike's fictional vicar-smuggler Dr Syn. A church is said to have stood here since Saxon times.