St Giles, Wormshill

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St. Giles Church, Wormshill
The south wall of the church
Dedication Saint Giles
Denomination Church of England
Administration
Deanery Sittingbourne
Archdeaconry Maidstone
Diocese Canterbury
Province Canterbury
Clergy
Vicar John Smith
Other
Anglicanism Portal

St. Giles Church is the sole church in the village of Wormshill in Kent. The church is Anglican and is dedicated to Saint Giles. It forms part of the united benefice of Bredgar, Milstead, Bicknor and Frinsted. The ecclesiastical parish of Wormshill is in the Diocese of Canterbury and the Sittingbourne deanery (within the archdeaconry of Maidstone).[1][2]

Contents

[edit] History

Churchyard gravestone dated 1639
Churchyard gravestone dated 1639

There has been a church in the village since around the time of the Norman Conquest although it was not specifically noted in the Domesday Book of 1086.[3] The village itself has pagan roots as indicated by the toponomy of the name Wormshill (from the Anglo-Saxon god Wōden)[4] however the church appears to have been built, at least in part, by Normans since it displays Norman architectural features.

In 1995, the church received a new ring of six bells after a campaign by villagers begun in 1944 by the late Michael Nightingale of Cromarty who, aged 16, opened a savings account with ten shillings for the restoration of the church's bells. Fifty years later he completed the full peal of six bells - one of which was original and five were rescued from abandoned churches.[5][6] The church also contains a 13th century chest, first discovered in the early 20th century.[7][8][9] The church register dates back to 1700.[1]

In January 2007, the interior of the church, exterior shots of the building and the churchyard and surroundings were used extensively as locations in the filming of an episode of EastEnders broadcast in the United Kingdom over the Easter 2007 holiday season.[10] Mock gravestones together with a temporary Victorian-style street lamp were added to the churchyard by the production crew.

[edit] Architecture

Interior view showing pulpit, ceiling and pews
Interior view showing pulpit, ceiling and pews
Baptismal font
Baptismal font

Officially recorded as being medieval in origin,[11] parts of the church date back to the Norman era. Major renovations of the church were in 1789 at a cost of £1,200, in 1879 (see below) and again early in the 20th century (1901).[1] The building is constructed from flint in the Early English style.

In 1798, Edward Hasted described the church as:

"dedicated to St. Giles, and consists of two isles and two chancels, having a tower steeple at the west end of it. There are remains of good painted glass in the great east window. Several of the family of Tylden lie buried in it...In the church yard are some tombs of the Thatcher's, and for the Woods who resided at Northwood, in this parish and Bicknor."[12]

The Tyldens were an ancient landholding family in the area for at least three centuries and William Tylden's memorial stone lies set in the floor of the north chancel, showing his date of death as 23 December 1613.[13]

Samuel Lewis, in his 1831 Topographical Dictionary of England wrote of a "tower steeple and some fine remains of stained glass in the great east window."[14]

In 1852, Arthur Hussey described the church as having architectural features "certainly of a very early character" and further:

"In Wormshill church the arches, which are pointed, appear to be mere perforations of the wall, the soffits being single, the angles not chamfered, of the thickness of the wall, flat and plain from one side to the other."[15]

St Giles in stained glass window
St Giles in stained glass window

In 1851 the church was said to have seating capacity of "140" with "afternoon attendance: 82" and, in 1879, architect Joseph Clarke undertook further restoration work.[11] This work was commemorated by the addition of a new stained glass window (see image right) dedicated to Saint Giles which bears the date of the restoration (1879) as well as the name of the vicar, "H. Newport" and church wardens Tom Clements (who was at one time the village postmaster) and "H. Hudson".

As of late 2007, structurally the church is unchanged in at least 200 years, as indicated by a watercolour painted in 1807,[16] and still retains most of its earlier features. However the church has undergone a number of repairs and restorations, particular in respect to the building's roof,[17] and the rebuilding of the tower and porch in 1903.[1] An Edwardian postcard (as compared with contemporary images) similarly indicates the interior remains relatively untouched.[11]

The font within the church is from the Norman era and the pulpit is from Tudor period.[1] A stained glass window dated 1879 in a small opening in the south wall depicts St Giles, holding a stricken deer, in keeping with the saint's story. Further stained glass includes the Northwood coat of arms, dedicated to a former landholding family in the parish.[18]

[edit] Rectory

The current vicar is the Reverend John Smith.[2] A vicar at the Rectory of Wormshill in the 19th century, Reverend Josiah Disturnell, was the subject of a debate as to early examples of exceptional "human longevity" when he was cited as being 107 years old when he died. References to the rector's memorial stone in the church were ultimately provided as evidence of his actual age of death, being either "91 or 93".[19]

The former rectory house (or vicarage) is now a private dwelling.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Sittingbourne, Milton, and District Directory 1908/09. W.J. Parrett Ltd (Reprinted 1980).
  2. ^ a b The Deanery of Sittingbourne. Diocese of Canterbury.
  3. ^ Wormshill in the Domesday Book of 1086. The National Archives.
  4. ^ Reaney, P. H., “Place-Names and Early Settlement in Kent”, Archaeologia Cantiana 76: 58 to 60, <http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.076%20-%201961/page%20v%20+%20vi%20%20contents.htm> 
  5. ^ Love, Dickon R. (1996). Culmination of a 50 year project at Wormshill. Love's Guide to the Church Bells of Kent.
  6. ^ Gatton, Edmund (8 September 1998), “Obituary of Michael Nightingale”, The Independent, <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19980908/ai_n14169648> 
  7. ^ Grove, L. R. A, “A Chest of Thirteenth-Century Type from Wormshill Church”, Archaeologia Cantiana 71: 214 to 218, <http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.071%20-%201957/page%20v%20+%20vi%20%20contents.htm> 
  8. ^ Grove, L. R. A, “Researches and Discoveries in Kent”, Archaeologia Cantiana 73: 232, <http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Vol.073%20-%201959/13/232.htm> 
  9. ^ Rayner, J (July 2006). Photograph of 13th century chest in St Giles church. Webshots.
  10. ^ Anderson, Rebecca (April 2007). Eastenders visits Kent. Kent Film Office.
  11. ^ a b c St Giles, Wormshill. Kent Churches.
  12. ^ Hasted, Edward, “Parishes: Wormsell”, History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent 5: 561-565, <http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62933> 
  13. ^ William Tylden's grave. Geograph.
  14. ^ Lewis, Samuel (1831), A Topographical Dictionary of England: Comprising the Several Counties, S. Lewis, pp. 575, <http://books.google.com/books?id=4OgqAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA575&vq=Wormshill&dq=wormshill+church> 
  15. ^ Hussey, Arthur (1852), Notes on the churches in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, Oxford University, pp. 70, <http://www.google.com.au/books?id=LBQHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA70&dq=Wormshill&as_brr=1> 
  16. ^ Petrie, H. F.S.A (1807). St. Giles: photograph of watercolour. Kent Archaeological Society.
  17. ^ Church plans online. Incorporated Church Building Society.
  18. ^ Norwood, Stephen. The Norwood Arms at Wormshill, Kent.
  19. ^ Thoms, William John (1873), Human Longevity, Its Facts and Its Fictions, London: Oxford University, pp. 6 to 7, <http://books.google.com/books?id=Rz0DAAAAQAAJ&dq=wormshill&pgis=1> 

[edit] External links