Welcome to Kenardington

Kenardington is on the edge of Romney Marsh, which its church of St Mary (with its tower dated 1170 AD) overlooks from a hilltop. The site of the church was once the scene of a battle, being stormed by the Danes in the 10th century and it stands on the site of what seems to have been a small Saxonfort, the remains of its earthworks now largely ploughed out of sight in fields used as arable land. Kenardington had a village shop/post office until a date in the 1980s since which the nearest shops and railway station are in Hamstreet approximately two miles away. The south-west of the parish is a wooded public park and has picnic areas.

St Mary’s Church lies on the outskirts of the small village of Kenardington, in a rural and beautiful location overlooking Romney Marsh. It acts as a visual beacon in the landscape, and lies on the route of the Saxon Shore Way, linked with nearby Warehorne Church. The church is Grade II* listed and and now comprises a nave with integral chancel, a west tower and south porch. However, the layout is unusual because a lightning strike in 1559 destroyed the original nave, chancel and north aisle of a much bigger church so the present nave we see today is in fact the main part of the earlier 13th century south aisle. Thus the original tower with its distinctive circular stair turret became separated from the church itself internally. The exterior is mostly of Kentish ragstone, with Caen stone dressings to the doorways and windows and plain tiled roofs. Internally the spaces are simple, with exposed timbers in the nave and chancel ceilings.