St Mary
Woodlands, Kent
In its delightful setting on the lawn, St Botolph’s is sometimes mistaken for a private chapel. Although its history is entwined with the Peché-Hart-Dyke family, it is a parish church.
The idiosyncratic exterior expresses changes to the church over the centuries.
The flint church was built around 1349 in the Decorated style. The north chapel, built of brick in the early 16th century, was the bequest of Sir John Peché to accommodate his magnificent tomb in the wall between the chancel and chapel. The full length figure equipped for the joust is carved in exquisite detail.
The early 16th century carved rood screen, the gift of Sir John Peché, is decorated as the tomb; with the pomegranate badges of Katherine of Aragon and Tudor roses. Peach stones carved with the letter 'e' pun the name Peachey, the anglicised pronunciation of the name Peché. The balustrade above was a later addition. In the 18th century Percyvall Hart IV added thirteen courses of brick to the nave, heightening the roof to accommodate an ornate plaster ceiling and a south porch.
Among the many treasures inside the church is the tiny early 18th century marble font enclosed in a tall wooden case which stands by the door.
The church is particularly rich in glass. Some from the 14th century is now in the north window of the chapel. Early16th century windows of the Anglo Flemish Southwark School are to be seen on the south of the nave; three panels depict the bloody martyrdom of St Erasmus, St John the Baptist and St George and the Dragon and in the east window of the chancel, St Agnes, with her symbols of a lamb and the sword of martyrdom, St Elizabeth of Hungary and St Anne teaching her daughter, the Virgin Mary, to read. Later 16th century roundels in the chancel include St Nicholas of Myra and pickled boys and a mid- reformation depiction of a monk with horns on his forehead. In 1754 Sir Thomas Dyke employed William Peckitt of York in what was possibly his first major commission, four windows in the nave: figures of St Botolph, St Luke, Elijah and a depiction of the Ascension surmounted with the name of God in Hebrew, Greek and Latin and a riot of cherubs.