IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Binney Road, ROCHESTER, ME3 9QR

There's something simple and straightforward about this little church which to me, at least, is very attractive. As for history, the nave dates from the 15th century. It has the typical clerestory of the Perpendicular period (the nave is taller than the aisles which flank it) - so that daylight streams into the body of the church from windows up above. The clerestory is seen more clearly here:http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2303149

Seen from the south-east. John Newman, in the local volume of Pevsner's 'The Buildings of England', says that parts of the church date from the 12th century. But what you notice is the clerestory - the nave is taller than the aisles - very much in the style of the Perpendicular era, so the impression is of a modest 15th century building.

This is a close-up of part of the north wall of the chancel. The stonework is of very humble quality, but nonetheless the jointing has been decorated by galletting - pressing chips of flint into the mortar. I can never look at this kind of work without imagining it being done by children, as if they were using currants to decorate a gingerbread man. How widespread the use of galletting is in Britain is a question I'm still trying to answer. Examples are easy to find in older buildings in the Weald of Surrey and Sussex, and I had rather assumed the tradition was confined to south-east England. But then, very recently, a member of the Geograph community made a remarkable discovery in the USA - a galletted 18th century house on the outskirts of Philadelphia http://www.blipfoto.com/entry/1422526.