St John the Evangelist
Ickham, Kent
With a handsome broach spire and walls of flint, stone and brick, St John's is set in a large and attractive churchyard.
Next to the church is an enormous thatched barn dating from about 1340 which may have been their grange. It is now sometimes used for exhibitions.
St Vincent's chancel is much taller than the narrow nave. The square tower has a shingled spire.
Inside, it is tranquil and uncluttered, and there is a clear difference between the pillars of the south and north aisle. The north aisle collapsed in the early 18th century, and was rebuilt with thin pillars and round headed arches.
A faded wall painting of St Christopher is surrounded by paintings of ships, a reminder that the sea is only a few miles away, and that until the 1500s it was much closer to Littlebourne in the shape of a sea channel called the Wantsum that made Thanet, just to the north, an island.
