St. Catherine's Church, Whitestone

Image: © Rude Health Taken: 18 Mar 2012

I saw this pretty church on the way to bag Waddle Down my 8th and last P100 for the day. I also managed to bag two other P30s. The churchyard was busy as it was Mothering Sunday. The Church dates probably from about the middle of the thirteenth century. There is, in the Diocesan Records, mention of a Nicholas de Hylium in 1263 but he may not have been the first incumbent. It is improbable that the first rectors were resident. There were 12 rectors between 1340 and 1437 and they probably came to the small church from some other Courtenay living. In 1288, the Church and rectory were assessed at £4 a year. The first known resident rector is John Keet, rector 1538 - 1569, who in his will of 1564 describes himself as parson of Whitestone and desires to be buried in the chancel of the church. The chancel is the oldest part of the Church and is divided from the nave by a large arch which often indicates earlier work. Most of the Church, however, was reconstructed in the fifteenth century. As Sir Philip Courtenay's arms are in the window of the South aisle, it is probable, as he died in 1406, that the reconstruction took place in his lifetime or in the years following his death.

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