Ruckinge, St Mary Magdalene, chancel

The church is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086. The main structure of the building is 12th century, but it was probably built on top of an old Saxon church. The Western tower was rebuilt in the 13th century, its origin being Norman. The church is built of ragstone with a plain tiled roof. The two-stage western tower has an upper section from the 13th century with a spirelet, on top of a 12th century lower stage. There is a fine west door. The south doorway is also 12th century, and there are two scratch dials, badly worn. Most of the windows date from the 14th century. Inside, most of the stonework of the arcades is badly damaged by a previous fire, some have iron straps . The octagonal piers are 14th century, the chancel arch is particularly badly affected. There are north and south aisles, the north aisle extends as far as the chancel arch, the south aisle continues into a small Lady Chapel, separated from the chancel by a wooden partition. In the east window of the north aisle, there are fragments of 14th century glass, featuring St George and the dragon. As in many churches of this area, most of the glass is clear. The chancel has medieval choir stalls with poppy head bench ends, tracery and shields. The nave roof has graceful King Posts, the roof was restored in 1938. Much damage was incurred in 1987 in the Great Storm, and has only recently been fully repaired.