St Margaret of Antioch Church, St Margaret's at Cliffe
1.1. St Margaret of Antioch Church
St Margaret of Antioch Church, St Margaret's-at-Cliffe is a Grade I listed church known for its remarkable Romanesque architecture.
1.2. Processional route
The main processional route leads from the High Street to the North Porch.
1.3. Foundation
This parish church was largely rebuilt around 1150 on the site of an earlier, possibly Anglo-Saxon church—an early medieval period before the Norman Conquest. https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/s/models-st-margaret-of-antioch-church-st-margarets-at-cliffe-reconstruction-001.png
1.4. Churchyard
St Margaret's features an extensive churchyard on its south side.
1.5. Architecture
St Margaret’s belonged to St Martin’s Priory, Dover, which rebuilt it on an unusually lavish scale around 1150, contributing to the church’s rich Norman sculpture and architectural ambition.
1.6. Flint and rubble
The walls are built of flint and rubble with red-brick dressings around openings, and the roof combines slate with areas of plain clay tiles.
1.7. Herringbone masonry
Fragments of herringbone flint (stones laid diagonally like fish bones) and flint quoins (stone blocks reinforcing corners) in the chancel—the clearest surviving signs of the earlier building.
1.8. West Tower
The west tower, originally late 12th century, is now a two-stage (two-level) structure mostly rebuilt later and strengthened with large buttresses—projecting masonry supports.
1.9. Brick date panel
A brick date panel appears on the south-east buttress.
1.10. Battlements and weather vane
The tower is topped with battlements (a notched parapet for decoration) and a weather vane.
1.11. West Door
The western doorway sits beneath a triangular gable and is decorated with voussoirs—arched wedge-shaped stones—carved with an extraordinary mix of patterns: embattled moulding (castle-like notches), nail-head (pyramidal knobs), rope moulding (twisted cord), intersecting arches, and concentric circles.
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/west-door-st-margarets-at-cliffe-church-4debcac04c1f407ba8971931054e3745
1.12. North Doorway
The late-12th-century north doorway inside the porch features zigzag and dogtooth mouldings—sharp chevron and triangular patterns typical of the Norman style—along with rope-twist and stylised flower carvings.
https://sketchfab.com/3d-models/north-doorway-st-margarets-at-cliffe-church-26c3a98574954e5da2aebbfad8738194
1.13. Clerestory
Above the nave is a clerestory, a row of high windows, here placed within shafted ashlar arcading—smooth stone arches supported by tiny columns—arranged irregularly, sometimes in pairs with sub-arches.
1.14. Parapet
A corbelled parapet—a wall-top supported by projecting stone brackets—runs above.
1.15. Aisles
The aisles are simple lean-to structures (sloping single roofs), and their windows were added only in the major 1864 restoration by architect Ewan Christian.
1.16. South Chancel Doorway
The chancel’s south doorway has a roll moulding—a rounded profile typical of the 13th century.
1.17. Chancel walls
Each chancel wall has four round-headed lancets, tall narrow windows with rounded tops, all set above a string course, a horizontal band of masonry.
1.18. Corbel table
The east window and corbel table (a row of projecting corbels supporting the roof) are 19th-century additions from the 1864 restoration.
2.1. Nave
The nave is divided by four-bay arcades—sequences of arches—using alternating round piers and Composite piers (a mix of classical capital forms).
2.2. Nave arcades
The nave arcade arches carry zigzag mouldings and embattled surrounds, sitting on moulded abaci—the flat slabs at the top of capitals—with occasional carved heads peering out.
2.3. Tower arch
The large late-12th-century tower arch pierces the west wall of the nave; a double-chamfered (two angled bevels) and pointed, supported on round responds—half-columns that carry an arch—resting on water-holding bases (moulded bases with a concave groove). Their capitals are scalloped, echoing the exterior carving.
2.4. Clerestory and roof
The clerestory windows inside are plain, without carved decoration, and the roof above is a 19th-century trussed-rafter structure—timber beams forming triangular frames.
2.5. South Aisle west window
In the south aisle, the east window preserves a roll-moulded 12th-century opening.
2.6. North aisle east window
The north aisle east window consists of triple lancets, while the remaining aisle windows are 19th-century insertions.
2.7. Chancel arch
The chancel arch is large and double-rebated, supported on round responds with decorated capitals and surrounded by a zigzag moulding matching the nave arcades.
2.8. Chancel
The chancel itself is plain, with a 19th-century roof and east window, reflecting Victorian restoration tastes.
2.9. Piscinae
The church contains two piscinae—small stone basins for washing sacred vessels—one with a round head in the chancel and another in the south aisle.
See [close-up](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/models/st-thomas-a-becket-capel?model=46640a2c609742b5be613155f6af771e)
2.10. Furnishings
Most of the chancel furnishings and the lectern date from the 19th century.
2.11. Font
The font is a simple octagonal (eight-sided) design dated 1663 and inscribed with the initials WA and RV.
See [close-up](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/models/st-thomas-a-becket-capel?model=1d321784bfc64d3b91337bc2aa47d391)
2.12. Hayward, Cecil John, memorial plaque
See [photo and transcription](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/records/monumental-inscriptions/st-margarets-at-cliffe-church#header-6-1765547263749)
2.13. Plaque
See [photo and transcription](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/models/st-thomas-a-becket-capel?model=22af7f05405a4b6a82a21454e3091282)
2.14. Dawson, William Robert Aufrere, war memorial
See [photo and transcription](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/records/monumental-inscriptions/st-margarets-at-cliffe-church#header-1-1765546959808)
2.15. Organ
See [photo](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/s/DJI_20251126131959_0223_D.JPG)
2.16. Harries-Beadnell, Maurice H. D., organ dedication
See [photo and transcription](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/records/monumental-inscriptions/st-margarets-at-cliffe-church#header-5-1765547301451)
2.17. Plaque
See [transcription](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/s/DJI_20251126144951_0484_D.JPG)
2.18. Stained Glass
See [photo](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/s/DJI_20251126144951_0484_D.JPG)
2.19. Plaque
See [transcription](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/models/st-thomas-a-becket-capel?model=22af7f05405a4b6a82a21454e3091282)
2.20. Gerny, James, window dedication
See [photo and transcription](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/records/monumental-inscriptions/st-margarets-at-cliffe-church#header-2-1765546959808)
2.21. Lucey / Wood / Kingsford Wood family, family memorial
See [photo and transcription](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/records/monumental-inscriptions/st-margarets-at-cliffe-church#header-8-1765547263749)
2.22. Stained Glass
2.23. Stained Glass
2.24. Stained Glass
See [photo](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/s/DJI_20251126145037_0503_D.JPG)
2.25. Stained Glass
See [photo](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/s/2025-11-26-145638.jpg)
2.26. High Altar
See [photo](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/s/2025-11-26-152936.jpg)
2.27. Ship graffiti
2.28. Stained glass
2.29. Stained glass
2.30. Stained glass
2.31. Stained glass
2.32. Stained glass
2.33. Stained glass
2.34. Stained glass
2.35. Stained glass
2.36. Stained glass
2.37. Stained glass
2.38. Stained glass
2.39. Case, Frederic, memorial plaque
See [photo](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/s/DJI_20251126144951_0484_D.JPG)
2.40. Lucey, E. C., window dedication
See [photo and transcription](https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/records/monumental-inscriptions/st-margarets-at-cliffe-church#header-7-1765547263749)
3.1. Voussoirs
The western doorway sits beneath a triangular gable and is decorated with voussoirs—arched wedge-shaped stones—carved with an extraordinary mix of patterns: embattled moulding (castle-like notches), nail-head (pyramidal knobs), rope moulding (twisted cord), intersecting arches, and concentric circles.
3.2. Seated figures
At the points where the arch springs upward are triple arcaded seated figures—small seated carvings beneath miniature arches—repeated at the apex, all roughly sculpted but richly symbolic.
3.3. Shafts and capitals
The doorway also retains its original shafts (slender columnettes) with scalloped capitals, a type of capital carved into rounded, shell-like segments.
4.1. Decoration
The late-12th-century north doorway features zigzag and dogtooth mouldings—sharp chevron and triangular patterns typical of the Norman style—along with rope-twist and stylised flower carvings.
2. Nook shafts
The doorway is double-rebated (two stepped recesses) and framed by nook-shafts—small columns set in the recess—again with scalloped capitals and carved heads.