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Betteshanger, Kent

Location
(51°13′29″N, 1°18′35″E)
Betteshanger
TR312525
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Kent
now Kent
  • Toby Huitson
  • Mary Berg
22 October 2012

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Feature Sets
Description

Betteshanger is a scattered village near Deal. A settlement there is recorded in the Domesday return for Kent, but it is best-known today for the modern colliery which operated for much of the 20th century. The former parish church of St Mary consists of nave, chancel and small bell-tower and was completely rebuilt by Salvin in 1853. It now functions as a school chapel. Visiting only two years before its rebuilding, Glynne noted Norman doorways on both the N and S of the nave in 1851. Today, only the N doorway and its tympanum survives.

History

Betteshanger is mentioned in Domesday Book as a very small settlement belonging to Bishop Odo of Bayeux with only one villager and four smallholders. No church was recorded.

Features

Exterior Features

Doorways

Comments/Opinions

It is interesting that each block of chevron is carved to a different geometrical steepness. This could imply that several craftsmen were working on this material independently of each other. The effect here is quite pleasing though, and has a vigour and freshness lacking in most Victorian copies.

Bibliography

F. Arnold-Forster, Studies in Church Dedications or England’s Patron Saints, London 1899, III, 49.

S. Glynne, The Churches of Kent, London, 1877, 169-70.