Chelsham

St.Leonard’s Church. Isolated from the village being more than a mile farther east from the inn.  The flint-built church is approached from the direction of the village through an avenue of beeches. The dedication to St.Leonard is often in an area of unclaimed woodland – a saint likely to protect people in this sort of environment. Though considerably restored in 1871, it shows 14th-century work in the chancel and tower arch  - the tower itself has been rebuilt. There is a 13th-century font of Bethersden marble and a 16th-century chancel screen, originally a screen but now cut down to about half its former height – it is a timber and plaster screen showing that this was a poorer church. At the east end are a good piscina and the remains of a sedilia and a curious 13th-century pillar with a capital.  Royal Arms of Elizabeth