Church of St Mary and St Ethelburga, and Remains of the Older Church to South

Heritage listing

Details TR 14 SE LYMINGE CHURCH ROAD (west side) 4/145 Church of St. Mary and St. 29.12.66 Ethelburga, and remains of the Older Church to south GV I Abbey church, now parish church. Site of a mixed-sex (Augustinian?) Abbey founded by St. Ethelburga (wife of King Edwin of Northumbria) in circa 633. Present church c.965, late C12, C14 and early C16. Nave and chancel flint, sandstone and ragstone, with considerable areas of herringbone work. North aisle uncoursed flint and sandstone. Tower roughly coursed ragstone and sandstone. Stone dressings. Lead roof to nave, slate roof to chancel. North aisle roof not visible. Nave and chancel substantially c.965, but south wall of nave, towards west end, apparently raised on vestiges of north wall of (a "porticus" of?) the c.633 church. Square-ended chancel, very slightly narrower than nave. Early C16 north aisle to nave, incorporating vestiges of an earlier north-west tower. West tower, for which bequests were made in 1508 and 1527. West tower: two stages, on high chamfered and moulded stone plinth. Battlemented above a hollow-chamfered string. Shingled octagonal spirelet. Uncusped two-light window with hexagonal upper light, and unglazed spandrels, in pointed-arched architrave with hoodmould, to each face of belfry. Small round- headed light in rectangular architrave with level hoodmould to base of north face of belfry stage. Three-light pointed-arched west window to lower stage, with cinquefoil-headed lights, tracery of vertical bars, cavetto-moulded architrave and moulded hoodmould. Pointed-arched hollow-chamfered west doorway in rectangular cavetto-moulded outer architrave with shields to spandrels, and with squared moulded hoodmould, the upper part of which is continued horizontally as a hollow-chamfered string. C16 door of fe

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.