Top Churches in the South East

This pretty church is an ideal resting point for walkers crossing the beautiful North Downs. It dates back to Norman times. The south chapel of 1697 contains a touching memorial to the Bertie family, with life-size marble figures of a husband and wife holding hands. In the north chapel is a fantastical monument to Sir Henry Furness (who died in 1712) – tiered like a wedding cake and flanked by statues of women mourners and cherubs, it almost scrapes the chapel ceiling! The chancel has some fine Victorian murals and alabaster reredos, whilst there is also lovely Victorian stained glass throughout the building.

Charles Dickens used the churchyard of St James as his inspiration in the opening chapter of Great Expectations, where the hero Pip meets Magwitch the convict. The site – on the Hoo Peninsula with marshes stretching north to the Thames estuary, is dramatically desolate and bleak in winter, recalling the sinister opening scene in David Lean’s 1946 film of the book. Here, you can find what have become known as '‘Pip’s Graves’ - the forlorn gravestones of 13 babies that Dickens describes in the chapter as ‘"little stone lozenges each about a foot and a half long, which were arranged in a neat row beside their [parents’] graves". Inside, the church is light and spacious. There is a 500-year-old timber door that still swings on its ancient hinges – even though it now leads to a blocked north doorway! Another quirky feature is the 19th-century vestry – its walls are lined from top to bottom with thousands of cockle shells - the emblem of St James. The monuments in the church walls and floor are a fascinating record of those who once lived here. They include a slab with a brass effigy of Feyth Brook, who died in 1508 and was the wife of Lord Cobham, of nearby Cooling Castle. Dickens fans should also visit St Mary’s in Higham, the village where the novelist ended his days while writing The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

The intimate and atmospheric St Mary’s occupies what may be the oldest church site in Sandwich where a 7th-century convent was founded of which nothing has survived. There remain substantial parts of a large Norman church, despite the town having been sacked by the French in the 13th- and 15th-centuries, an earthquake in the 16th and the collapse of the tower in the 17th! The north arcade was then replaced with slender columns of chestnut and the immense barn-like breadth of the nave and south aisle was roofed in one span. The tower over the south porch has a wooden belfry built in 1718 and there are monuments from several periods and interesting fittings to discover.

St Mary’s sits remote from Higham village in orchards on the edge of marshes running to the Thames. It is an unusual church with great charm and eccentricity. Its striped walls of ragstone and knapped flint and a near-symmetrical arrangement of two naves and two chancels are surmounted by a 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 14-th century pulpit and a particularly fine south door, treated like a four-light window with much delicate carving and some original ironwork. Restoration in 1863 provided most of the furnishings and the glass in the chancel windows.

St Peter's is the guardian of an ancient Sandwich tradition. Every day at 8pm, the curfew bell rings out, signalling that the townspeople should cover their fires to make them safe for the night. This was once known as the 'pigbell’, as it also informed people they could release their animals into the street. This old Cinque Port church (Cinque Ports were the five harbour towns on the south coast which in Medieval times provided the king with ships and men in exchange for trading and other privileges) is a local landmark. Much of today's building dates from 800 years ago, though it has been altered many times. The handsome tower with its distinctive onion dome top is a 17th-century addition - built by Flemish protestant refugees, in the style of their homeland churches. There was once a Norman church on the site and traces of masonry from this building can still be seen at the west end. The present church dates from the late 13th-/early 14th-centuries, when Sandwich was at the height of its prosperity. The atmospheric crypt - open by arrangement - was once a charnel house where bones from the graveyard were stored to make room for new graves. Inside, the church is spacious and airy with few furnishings allowing you to easily appreciate the impressive size and proportions of the lofty interior. The Medieval roofs, handsome decorated windows, and the magnificently carved tomb recesses and effigies to local benefactors reflect the wealth and importance of the town and its people.

The spire of Holy Trinity soars high above the trees, visible for miles around in an idyllic corner of Hampshire. It is an extraordinary experience to find this lavishly decorated Medieval-style church with Italian marble mosaic floors in such a rural location. Built in 1876-78, the church was funded by William Nicholson - a local benefactor and gin distiller - and designed by Gothic architect Sir Arthur Blomfield, later responsible for the Royal College of Music. Blomfield used the best craftsmen of the day to produce the magnificent stonework, mosaics and stained glass. The walls are made from warm-toned Ham Hill stone with bands of Bath stone. Marble mosaic floors run across the church and are particularly colourful in the chancel. If you are lucky, you may hear the lovely peal of eight bells ringing out - but at any time you can soak in the wonderful views all over Hampshire.

St Mary's was built in 1866, by Henry Conybeare for his brother who was the Rector of the church, and felt the previous church was cold and damp. He himself bore most of the cost, with the parishioners contributing £50 towards the cost of the windows, as a mark of their regard for him. This dazzling and colourful Victorian jewel of a church overwhelms the senses -it is a truly exhilarating building, tall and imposing, especially as you approach it up a steep path from the road. Its design is clearly inspired by the soaring elegance of the 13th-century Sainte Chapelle in Paris, chapel of French kings. The church is a dazzling kaleidoscopic wonderland of pattern and colour... The roof is richly painted The font is inlaid with a variety of marble The floor near the altar is decorated with sparkling tiles laid out in the form of a maze The pulpit has five panels filled with scrollwork and foliage in cast iron (the same design is repeated on the ends of the pews). Best of all however is the stained glass, especially in the west window. The elegant arched windows contain small pieces of clear red, blue and green glass arranged in geometrical patterns. Try to visit on a sunny day, when the church is bathed in gloriously coloured light - an unforgettable sight. Two memorial brasses remain from the previous medieval church. St Mary's was built in 1866, by Henry Conybeare for his brother who was the Rector of the church, and felt the previous church was cold and damp. He himself bore most of the cost, with the parishioners contributing £50 towards the cost of the windows, as a mark of their regard for him. This dazzling and colourful Victorian jewel of a church overwhelms the senses -it is a truly exhilarating building, tall and imposing, especially as you approach it up a steep path from the road. Its design is clearly inspired by the soaring elegance of the 13th-century Sainte Chapelle in Paris, chapel of French kings. The church is a dazzling kaleidoscopic wonderland of pattern and colour... The roof is richly painted The font is inlaid with a variety of marble The floor near the altar is decorated with sparkling tiles laid out in the form of a maze The pulpit has five panels filled with scrollwork and foliage in cast iron (the same design is repeated on the ends of the pews). Best of all however is the stained glass, especially in the west window. The elegant arched windows contain small pieces of clear red, blue and green glass arranged in geometrical patterns. Try to visit on a sunny day, when the church is bathed in gloriously coloured light - an unforgettable sight. Two memorial brasses remain from the previous medieval church.

This simple square-towered church, built from flint rubble, is 800-years old. It stands in the beautiful landscaped park of Preston Manor. Now all looks serene but in 1906 the church was damaged by fire and nearly lost its greatest treasures - its 14th-century wallpaintings. Today, the paintings stand out in reds and browns against the limewashed walls. Although fragments, you can pick out the nativity with a bowl-shaped crib and the infant Jesus. The violent scene of Thomas Becket’s murder in Canterbury is clearer - you can see one of the four knights, possibly William de Tracy, plunge his sword into Becket's head and you can see blood dripping from the hand of Edward Grim, Becket’s chaplain, who was injured while trying to protect him. Sumptuous 20th-century restoration brought the church new life after the fire, and today the walls, windows and floors around the altar glow with a gorgeous mix of pattern and colour.

This striking flint-and-brick 700-year-old church stands in a pretty churchyard shaded by fine trees near a beautiful stretch of the Thames. It is filled with memorials to past parishioners and, in early spring, a host of daffodils. Jethro Tull, the father of modern farming, has a memorial here (although the whereabouts of his grave is unknown) and there is a moving marble statue of two young brothers in swimming trunks who drowned in the Thames in 1886. The church itself is simple and serene. The nave and south door were built in the 13th -century, while the ornate roof timbers were installed in the 15th-century, when parishioners grew rich from the local wool and corn trade. Inside, there are several stunning memorials, including brass effigies of John Clerk and his wife Lucie, both in Medieval costume. The 19th-century memorial for Sir Francis Sykes has a statue of a woman weeping by John Flaxman, famous for his Wedgewood designs.

This simple little church, with pre-Norman origins, stands in an idyllic spot beside a water meadow next to the River Lambourn. Its village has long since vanished, but the spirit of the villagers shines through in the church’s simple craftsmanship, glorious Medieval wallpaintings and fabulous tombs. The alabaster statue of local noble Sir Thomas Fettiplace lies alongside that of his wife and gives a rare glimpse of 15th-century fashion. Look out for the lovely Norman tub font, an early Medieval tomb, and fragments of early stained glass.