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St Mary's Church, Higham

St Mary's Church, Lower Higham is remote from the village, in orchards on the edge of marshes running to the Thames. It is a church of much charm and eccentricity, with its striped walls of ragstone and knapped flint and a near-symmetrical arrangement of two naves and two chancels, surmounted by a western shingled spirelet. Originally Norman, it was remodelled and enlarged in the 14th century, perhaps when a priory of Benedictine nuns was established nearby. There is some memorable woodwork including a 15th century chancel screen in its original position, a 14th century pulpit and a particularly fine south door by the same hand, treated like a four-light window with much delicate carving and some original ironwork. A restoration of 1863 provided most of the furnishings and the glass in the chancel windows. St Mary's is now in the care of The Churches Conservation Trust, previously known as the Redundant Churches Fund.

St Mary's Church
Church Street
Higham
Rochester
Kent ME3 7LS - view multimap

St Helen’s Church, Cliffe

St Helen's church at Cliffe was built about 1260 and was constructed in the local style of alternating layers of Kent ragstone and squared black flint. It is one of the largest parish churches in Kent, and the only dedicated to St Helen, the size of the church revealing its past importance.

St Helen's Church
Church Street
Cliffe
Rochester
Kent ME3 7PY - view multimap

St James’ Church, Cooling

The churchyard of this church is believed to have been the setting for the first meeting between the convict Magwitch and young Pip in Charles Dicken's 'Great Expectation', and the little stone 'lozenge' gravestones are known as 'Pip's Graves'. The church dates from the late 13th century and is impressively spacious inside. There are wonderful carved stone seats in the chancel and a set of rather primitive wooden benches in the nave.

As well as some impressive memorials in the walls and floor the church is unusual in the way that the tiny 19th century vestry is lined with thousands of cockle shells - the emblem of St James.

St James' Church
Main Road
Cooling
Rochester
Kent ME3 8DG - view multimap

St Margaret’s Church, High Halstow

The 10th-century church of St Margaret at High Halstow was referred to in the Domesday Book of 1086, and was built on the highest point of the Hoo Peninsula, overlooking the rivers of the Thames and Medway.

St Margaret’s Church
Cooling Road
High Halstow
Rochester
Kent ME3 8SA - view multimap

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