St Margaret's Church

 

THE FRIENDS OF St MARGARET’S

 

St MARGARET’S CHURCH HOTHFIELD

 

 

 

The Church of St Margaret, formerly listed as the Church of St Mary, is built of Kentish ragstone and has the following features :

A. A chancel with north & south chapels.

B. A three-bay nave with aisles and west tower with a shingled spire.

 

The building contained medieval work of several periods but was badly damaged in 1598 by lightning and was rebuilt by Sir John Tufton, who died in 1642 and is buried in the Church.

The north and south chapels were added in 1876 when the whole Church was restored.

 

Sir Arthur Sullivan, one half of the Gilbert & Sullivan partnership, com[posed a piece of music, “The Lost Chord”, on the organ that now resides in St Margaret’s Church.  It is believed that at the time the organ was in the Manor House, where a public performance was given by Sir Arthur in 1877.  The organ was moved to St Margaret’s Church in the late 1890s.

 

The Church is Grade I listed as a building of special architectural or historic interest.  It has six bells, including the tenor, which weighs eight hundredweight, is just over 35 inches across and was founded in 1927 along with the treble.  The other four bells were cast in 1762 by Lester and Pack, the same foundry that cast both the original Liberty Bell in Philadelphia & Big Ben.