Three St Marys

[poliphilo]

St Mary, Hinxhill



St Mary, Brook



St Mary, Brabourne

All in the same corner on Kent, just east of Ashford, at the edge of the North Downs.

Comments

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Wonderful!

Are the last two Saxon?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

According to Simon Jenkins (whose 1000 best churches is my Bible) Brabourne and Brook are Norman. He notes the massiveness of the tower at Brook and suggests it must have been constructed with an eye to defence. Brabourne's tower used to be massive too (look at that buttress!) but it got its height reduced for safety's sake.

There are few things that I like more than a massive Norman tower.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

Very nice. St Mary, Hinxhill, seems nearly as old as the others, albeit with extensive renovation.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I imagine it is. Most of the churches round here had their origins in the early medieval period.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

I rather like that first one. The Norman ones are lovely but the odd steeple looks like some 17th-century ones I've seen here in Spain.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Shingled spires are highly typical of the South East of England.

[pondhopper.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I wasn't aware of that. How old would this one be?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

The church is mainly 13th century. I honestly don't know whether it's always had a spire, but I think it probably has.

[athenais.livejournal.com]

That first one looks so beautiful. The others have a more austere beauty.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I liked the way they'd allowed ivy to grow up the wall at Hinxhill. Also the tree by the porch is a magnolia and I love magnolias.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Lovely pics as always.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks