Charlton in Dover: St Bartholomew
Overview
Grid reference: TR 313 420
The church is faced with hammer-dressed limestone with roof-coverings of red tiles.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
Nave, aisles and chancel with north and south transepts; that on the south side houses the organ and vestry, that on the north is seated and has a memorial chapel on the east side.
Description of Archaeology and History
The church was built in 1866 to the designs of Joseph Clarke. A brass plate in the baptistery records that the transepts and south aisle were erected in 1878 by John George Smith.
Exterior Description
The church is faced with hammer-dressed limestone with roof-coverings of red tiles. The building has neither spire nor bell-cote, and does not make a great visual impact on the surrounding area. The west wall has a doorway in the centre with two large trefoiled lancet windows over it, and above them again a roundel with a quatrefoil inset. The division between nave and aisles is marked by large stepped buttresses. The nave and clerestory windows on both sides of the building are plain lancets. Those in the aisle walls are distinguished by roll drip-mouldings with plain block stops which were presumably intended to be carved. At the west end of the south aisle wall is the main entrance porch. The porch projects some way from the body of the church and the doorway, set between two small buttresses, has a triple moulding. Above the doorway the wall rises to a steep gable. The south transept is divided into two stages of equal height by a string-course. In the lower stage is a doorway into the vestry and, to the west, a small two-light window. The upper stage has a triplet of unequal lancet windows, the centre light being trefoiled. The north transept, which is not easily visible, is undivided, with two tall lancet windows and a roundel above them. The small memorial chapel which opens on the east side of the north transept has an extremely plain exterior with two single-light windows on the north side, and a small slit-window high up in the east wall. The chancel terminates in an apsidal sanctuary with unequal sides, thus allowing of an east wall wide enough to take a three-light window with Geometrical tracery.
Building Fabric and Features
Stained Glass
The east window is modern. Those in the south aisle are all in the manner of Kempe, though without his mark.
Interior
Interior Description
The interior of the building is spacious. The height and width of the nave arcades minimise the division between nave and aisles. The arcades are of five bays of pointed stone arches with hood-pouldings and rest on cylindrical columns with heavy foliated capitals and moulded abaci. There are nine clerestory windows on each side. The nave roof is an elaborate construction with octagonal tie-beams and intermediate trusses. The tie-beams alternate with hammers-beams. The aisles have plain lean-to roofs, and the aisle walls have a panelled dado.
The chancel arch hasan equilateral profile, and above it are two small oculi pierced through the east wall of the nave. The chancel itself has a richly tiled floor and a plain pitched timber roof with a'single tie=beam over the altar. The polygonal sanctuary has a two-light window on each side and a three-light window in the east wall. All these windows have rere-arches and attached shafts with rings. On the south side of the sanctuary is a triple sedilia and piscina. All four of the arched canopies are trefoiled.
The transept on the south side is entirely filled by the clergy vestry and the organ above it. The north transept however is open and seated, The memorial chapel which opens off the east side of the transept makes a pleasing contrast with the rest of the church for it has an extensive scheme of painted decoration. The arched opening from the transept and the roof timbers of the chapel have stencil decoration in which the predominant colours are green and gold. The side walls are painted mostly with figures of angels, but on the south wall is a large painting of a ship.
Fixtures and fittings
Brass
A brass plate on the south wall records that the chapel was erected as a memorial to a past incumbent, Arthur Langston Rekewick, and to his brother who was saved from shipwreck.
Font (object)
A massive circular stone bowl on clustered shafts.
Pulpit
A stock Victorian Gothic pulpit with a shafted and vaulted podium. The wooden body of the pulpit is octagonal, and pierced with two-light openings.
Rood Screen
A large and open rood screen of insipid design, with figures.
Rail
A screen of wrought-iron work divides the north transept from the aisle, and there are more rails of similar design half hidden behind the rood screen.
Organ (object)
1878
By J. Walker & Sons.
Stall
The choir stalls are heavy, with floriated ends.
Churchyard
Grid reference: TR 313 420
Burial and War Grave Information
It is unknown whether the building is consecrated.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has been used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
There are no records of National Heritage assets within the curtilage of this site.
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | N/A |
| Solar Thermal Panels | N/A |
| Biomass | N/A |
| Wind Turbine | N/A |
| Air Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | N/A |
| Ev Charging | N/A |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
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