The Nave and Chancel © PE Blanche 2001 The Chancel and East window © PE Blanche 2001

This is a beautiful Church although I have to admit that from the North side it did rather remind me of a Mennonite farmhouse. (For those of you who have not lived in Southern Ontario as I have, Mennonites do tend to expand their farmhouses as the family grows, usually resulting in lots of additional "bits" added onto the original building. St. John the Baptist Church at Mersham gives the same appearance). Although not actually architecturally visible, the oldest part of this Church is Norman. The South wall at the East end of the building has a thicker wall than the Western end as this once formed part of that original small Norman Church which measured only 36 feet by 25 feet. There was a Saxon Church here and the earliest documentation to confirm this was written in 1040 A.D. The Church was rebuilt in the latter half of the fourteenth century and much of the building we see today dates from that time. Even the main roof trusses and king posts in the Nave (picture top left) date from the fouteenth century. The Church is well known for the various monuments and memorials to the Knatchbull family. The Chapel in the South East corner of the Church is know knonw as the Knatchbull Chapel although it was original The Lady Chapel. Under the floor at the East end of the Chapel is the Knatchbull family vault and there is also an area on the South side of the churchyard where there also additional Knatchbull family graves. More than one member of the family presided as a magistrate at the local Quarter Sessions and are already mentioned briefly on my smuggling pages. Certain of these memorials to this family are rather interesting for genealogists and you will find additional detail on the next page (see below). In the Chancel there is some fine oak paneling said to date in one reference from the 14th Century but carrying a date carved into one section in the early 17th Century and some unusual altar rails which do date from the 17th Century. The Church also has some unusual and attractive ancient glass and the tracery in the West window is most unusual containing parts from two different styles of architecture. When I was in the Church, there were works of art by local children proudly adorning the screen to the Knatchbull Chapel which at least shows that this delightful building is still playing a regular part in the daily lives of this country community. It was also nice to think that two centuries ago, members of my own direct family were being baptised in this Church. Memorials in St. John the Baptist People associated with this Church