Elmsted: Church and Monument History

Elmsted between church architecture and prehistory

Elmsted brings together historical themes from several periods. St James the Great represents multi-phase church architecture; the oval burial mound in Shrub's Wood takes us back to the Neolithic period. Spong Farm House features a gallery hall that is unusual for the area, while Stone Street connects the village to a Roman road between Lympne and Canterbury. For planning your trip, these themes can be considered separately: church architecture, a prehistoric earthwork monument, rural architecture, and the route of a road each offer a different perspective on history.

St James the Great: building phases and details

St James the Great in Elmsted is a Grade I listed building. The church was built in the late 11th or early 12th century. The tower and nave date from the 13th century; the other parts date from the 15th and 16th centuries. The building history therefore spans several centuries and cannot be reduced to a single period of construction.

Inside is an ornate 12th-century octagonal font made of Purbeck marble. Its shape, material, and age give this furnishing a distinctive place alongside the sequence of building phases. The chapel is also part of the church's historical development: it later became the Honeywood Chapel.

The Neolithic burial mound in Shrub's Wood

The oval burial mound in Shrub's Wood dates from the Neolithic period. Its features include a large earthen bank and flanking ditches. It is 38 metres long, up to 19 metres wide, and rises up to two metres above the surrounding ground at its highest point. Its length and greatest stated width are therefore in an approximate ratio of two to one; the height stated is explicitly measured above the surrounding ground.

Its regional context also sets the burial mound apart from the church buildings: it is among the most significant surviving oval burial mounds in south-east England. In Kent, it is an isolated example outside the main distribution of such monuments in Wessex and on the South Downs. Here, then, the focus is not on a building's construction phases, but on a prehistoric monument and its distinctive place in the regional distribution.

Further historical connections

Spong Farm House has a gallery hall that is unusual for this area. Dendrochronological dating established the year 1520. The gallery hall is an architectural feature, while the dating provides a separate point of reference in time. Together, they offer a different perspective on historic architecture than the building phases of St James the Great.

One of Elmsted's boundaries runs along Stone Street, a Roman road between Lympne and Canterbury. Here, the focus is not on the form of a building or the dimensions of a monument, but on the route of a road and its relationship to the boundary. Together, these connections offer different historical perspectives: the development of a church, a Neolithic earthwork monument, an unusual gallery hall, and a Roman road link.

Discover more destinations: Teynham, Alkham, West Farleigh, Newchurch, Benenden, Sheerness, Elham, Whitfield.

For the overview of the wider region: Kent.