Saltwood Church History
One Thousand Years of History
Exploring an early English parish church such as Saltwood
is like reading a good detective novel. Everywhere there are clues,
in this case clues of change and adaptation to God’s work as the
decades and centuries have rolled by.
   
EARLY PICTURES
1807
1807
Early 1800's
Early 1800's
Late 1800's
Late 1800's
1853
1853
Above pictures by
kind permission of
Kent Archaeological Society
THE LYCH GATE

The Lych Gate
or Churchyard Gate,
a modern restoration.
Lych being the old Saxon word for corpse,
a significant name for
the Churchyard gate.

The Lych Gate
Read Inscription
over gate

History of the Church
The first church in Saltwood was probably built of wood by the Saxons who were better carpenters than masons, though few churches of that period remain. The church certainly did not possess glass for its windows, but simply shutters which could be closed at night or during a storm. It would have been cold and draughty and poorly lit with oil lamps or resin torches.

Built by the Normans the oldest part of the present Saltwood Church dates from about 1100 and the tower, which originally had a gabled top, from about 1200.

The first Rector was Walter De Gray, who was Chancellor of England under King John in 1207 and also Archbishop of York.

Saltwood was, for most of the millennium, an important Manor. The somewhat grander church of Hythe remained a chapel of Saltwood until 1844. The earliest part of the present building dates from between 1100 and 1150AD. Although the beautiful porch and the lychgate are modern restorations. Lych is the old Saxon word for a corpse, a significant name for the churchyard gate.

The first Norman church at Saltwood simply consisted of the present nave or body of the church and a small square chancel, which only extended as far as the priest’s door on the south side and to the east end of the organ chamber on the north. On the exterior of the north and south walls of the chancel, the joint in the masonry can be seen near the top of the wall where the old chancel ended.

The remains of one of the original Norman windows of the nave (now blocked up) can be seen on the right side of the porch, rather high up. It was narrow and round- headed. Larger gothic pointed or segmented-headed windows in the fifteenth and sixteenth century superseded the earlier Norman ones.
The original church had no tower. The fine Norman doorway in the vestry with its elaborate dogtooth mouldings was evidently the original West door to the church. Some of the stonework has been restored and that of the plainer Norman door in the south porch has been entirely renewed.

The tower dates from 1200AD. A sketch of it in the vestry, dated 1806, shows that it originally had a gabled top, rather uncommon in England, and narrow pointed windows. The two copies of the Norman windows in the base of the tower, which is now the vestry, and that in the ringing chamber are quite modern and out of place in a tower which is early thirteenth century Gothic. In the tower are hung six bells, four cast in 1772 and the tenor in 1773 by John Waylett, an itinerant bell founder. The last was added in 1912, as a gift of Mr Lawrence Hardy of Sandling Park.

In the church the arches which separate the nave from the north aisle are pointed and date, like the tower, from about the year 1200. These indicate where the north wall of the nave was cut through and this arcade and north aisle built.

In the church the arches which separate the nave from the north aisle are pointed and date, like the tower, from about the year 1200. These indicate where the north wall of the nave was cut through and this arcade and north aisle built.
INTERIOR VIEWS
The Font
The font has a simple octagon bowl
Coat of Arms
Coat of arms of
William IV dated 1834
The Virgin and Child
The Virgin and Child
on the north wall of the
Lady Chapel
Stained Glass Windows
 
 
 

The font has a simple octagon bowl with a shield on the east side bearing the words ‘Jehsu Mary’ probably the work of a local mason in about AD1500. On the west wall to the left hand side of the vestry door is a modern notice board installed for the millennium which contains an icon painted by Brother Raphael from the monastery at Bec Hellouin.

To the right of the vestry door on the west wall is a fine coat of arms of William IV dated 1834. This is a good example of the part played by Heraldry in the adornment of churches in the later Middle Ages.

The church also contains some interesting brasses, the oldest lies in the floor of the chancel; it is covered by an extension of the red carpet to protect it. There are several others including a fine one of Thomas Brockhill and his wife which is at the east end of the north aisle.

We now come to the interior of the chancel. Looking up along the wall plate on the south side, a slight bend in the line of the wall will be noticeable. This is due to an earlier alteration of the building. The stone stream course, which runs along the windowsills at the end of the chancel, shows the lines of the extension. Judging from the tracery of the windows and the beautiful piscina on the south side of the sanctuary, this addition to the building was made about AD1300. The stone tracery of the east window is a good example of the reticulated or net pattern.

The Lady Chapel (north aisle) was created in the Victorian era. On the north wall is a fine copy of a Murillo painting of The Virgin and Child. At the west end of the Lady Chapel a new doorway was created in 2004 giving access to a modest extension housing the St Peter’s (upstairs) and St. Paul’s (downstairs) rooms, modern toilets and a small kitchen.

The rich history of Saltwood church and the people who have worshipped there for over a thousand years can be appreciated best by a visit to the church.
Detailed historical notes and guides are available for visitors. Normally the church is open from 9 am to dusk.
Most of the information in this brief history is taken from the ‘History of Saltwood Parish Church’ by the late Reverend H D Dale, Vicar of St Leonard’s Parish Church Hythe, 1899-1926