Church of St Katherine (EHER 1742)

A church built in the 12th century, with additions of the 13th and 14th centuries, and later post medieval alterations (including repairs to damage thought to have been caused by Dutch naval raiders in 1667 and the addition of a porch in 1704. The church was restored in the 19th century. A west tower was begun in 1917 but never completed. Now dedicated to Saint Katherine, this was formerly the Church of Saint Margaret. The church is mainly built of flint with some rubble incorporating Roman and Medieval brick with Reigate dressings and a tiled roof. Excavation in 2015 found only disturbed soil

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import. St Catherine's Church (C of E) [NAT] <1> Parish Church of St Margaret, now St Katherine, stands at the S end of the village. The walls are of flint and ragstone-rubble with some Roman and later bricks; the dressings are mostly of Reigate stone; the roofs are tiled; The Nave was built early in the 12th century and late in the same century the N arcade was built and the North Aisle added. The Chancel was rebuilt and probably enlarged in the first half of the 13th century. In the 14th century the S arcade was built and a S aisle and tower added; the chancel-arch was also rebuilt and widened. <1> The south aisle and the west tower were reputedly destroyed by the Dutch fleet in 1667. The south aisle was then blocked. A north porch was built in 1704. The church was restored in `modern' times when the north porch was rebuilt. A new west tower was begun but not completed. The west half of the chancel north wall is faced externally with knapped flints, probably 16th century work. A 14th century opening in the south wall has an early 16th century window, blocked with 17th century brick. The north wall of the north aisle was largely refaced in the 17th century. The west wall has a 16th century window. Adjoining the west wall of the nave is a timber bell-cote, external, `modern' except 17th century posts. The chancel roof is modern except the probably 17th century tie-beams. One bell is of 1629. A door is 17th century, another probably 16th or 17th century. The churchyard has a monument of 1713, a floor slab in the chancel is of 1698. The pulpit is early 17th century. Above the chancel arch are painted the Royal Arms, 16th century. <1> The present nave south wall is 19th century, includes 14th century windows. A new tower was begun south of the church's west end in 1917, not completed in 1954. Pulpit is the "usual Elizabethan type". <2> Photo in SMR. <3> Altered in the 17th century. West wall has a 16th century window, 19th century window in the north wall. 18th century north porch, largely rebuilt in the late 19th century. Roofs mainly 19th century but 4 tie beams still in the chancel. 16th century pulpit. <4> According to local legend , the tower of St. Catherine's church in East Tilbury was bombarded and destroyed by the Dutch during their raid of the Thames and Medway <5> Excavation 1890 Excavation in 1890 by the Rev H J E Barter, then rector, uncovered foundations of the south aisle and south west tower. No plan exists and no report was published, although one was promised. <6> Excavation revealed three graves, one within a stone cast (likely of the 19th – 20th century date, or at least relatively recent). The investigated area contained principally made ground, in particular a backfill-like deposit possibly related to alterations to the church. Three worked stone fragments were present within the made ground. One comprised a stone tread from a probably medieval, fairly small spiral staircase and comprised the tread itself with integral circular newel section. <7> The monitoring of the excavation of the service trenches revealed only a small quantity of disarticulated human bone. <7> VCH records 18th century reports of tessellated pavements uncovered during gravel-digging in 1763. <8> Additional references <9> <10> <11> <12>