Summary

Horton Chapel, 42m south-east of Horton Manor House.

Source: Historic England

Details

This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 18 December 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes a medieval chapel surviving as upstanding and below-ground remains. It is situated on a gentle north-west facing slope near the River Great Stour at Horton, ENE of Chartham. The chapel is built of flint with ashlar dressings and is a two-celled structure with a nave and chancel. It has a bellcote with arches for two bells at the west end. The walls are supported by diagonal angle buttresses. No original window openings survive. The interior includes a late 14th century Reigate stone chancel arch and trefoil-headed piscina. The roof has collapsed. To the north and east are late 19th century oasthouses of flint with red brick dressings.

Horton chapel was built in about 1300 and originally served nearby Horton Manor House. The chapel was later used as a barn and then an oasthouse and storehouse.

The upstanding remains are Grade II listed.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

A medieval chapel is a building, usually rectangular, containing a range of furnishings and fittings appropriate for Christian worship in the pre-Reformation period. Chapels were designed for congregational worship and were generally divided into two main parts: the nave, which provided accommodation for the laity, and the chancel, which was the main domain of the priest and contained the principal altar. Around 4000 parochial chapels were built between the 12th and 17th centuries as subsidiary places of worship built for the convenience of parishioners who lived at a distance from the main parish church. Other chapels were built as private places of worship by manorial lords and lie near or within manor houses, castles or other high-status residences. Some chapels possessed burial grounds. Unlike parish churches, the majority of which remain in ecclesiastical use, chapels were often abandoned as their communities and supporting finances declined or disappeared. Many chantry chapels disappeared after the dissolution of their supporting communities in the 1540s. Chapels, like parish churches, have always been major features of the landscape. A significant number of surviving examples are identified as being nationally important. The sites of abandoned chapels, where positively identified, are particularly worthy of statutory protection as they were often left largely undisturbed and thus retain important information about the nature and date of their use up to their abandonment.

Despite later alterations and additions, Horton Chapel, 42m south-east of Horton Manor House, survives relatively well. It includes a large amount of upstanding stone remains with some significant architectural features such as the bellcote, chancel arch and trefoil-headed piscina. The site will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the construction, use and history of the chapel and the landscape in which it was constructed.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Other
Kent HER TR 15 NW 507, TR 15 NW 1276. NMR TR 15 NW15, TR 15 NW 507. PastScape 464692, 538481. LBS 171055.

Source: Historic England