Brook Church

The Church of St Mary's, Brook

The Chief glory of Brook is its Norman church, dedicated to St Mary. The entry in Domesday, which is taken to refer to Brook, mentions that there was a church present at the time of the survey in 1086. There is now no trace of Saxon work so the church mentioned, consisting of the present nave and chancel, was probably built after the conquest in the time of Archbishop Lanfranc, using Quarr limestone from the Isle of White. The Tower was added, using stone from Caen in Normandy, circa 1097, by Ernulf the Prior of Christ Church, Canterbury.

Immediately obvious is the squat, powerful, square tower, as wide as the nave and nearly as long. Reputedly larger in size in relation to the rest of the church than any other in England, the tower has three stages, each being stepped up from the one below. Part of the reason for its size is that it contains three floors – a ground floor 'tower room' a first floor chapel or 'priests room' and finally the bell chamber.St Mary's is quoted to be "set aside from all others in England by the 13th century wall paintings". The paintings are faded now, but still very striking.A detailed history of the church and its features are to be found in 'A History of Brook', referred to above.