Editing Minster-in-Thanet (section)

===Norman===
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The parish church of [[St Mary]]-the-Virgin is largely [[Norman architecture|Norman]] but with significant traces of earlier work, the problems of which are unresolved. The [[nave]] is impressive with five [[bay (architecture)|bay]]s, and the [[crossing (architecture)|crossing]] has an ancient chalk block [[Vault (architecture)|vaulting]]. The [[chancel]] is Early English with later [[flying buttress]]es intended to halt the very obvious spread of the upper walls. There is a fine set of [[misericord]]s reliably dated around 1400. The tower has a curious turret at its southeast corner that is locally referred to as a [[Saxon]] watch tower but is built at least partly from [[Caen]] stone; it may be that it dates from the time of the conquest but is built in an antique style sometimes called Saxo-Norman. A doorway in the turret opens out some two metres above the present roof line.

The [[church building|church]] was used by both the brethren of the second [[abbey]], a dependency of [[St Augustine's Abbey|St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury]], and as a [[parish church]]. Socket holes in the piers of the crossing suggest that, as well as a [[rood screen]], there was a further screen dividing [[nave]] and [[transept|crossing]], such as still exists at [[Dunster]] in [[Somerset]]. This abbey surrendered during the [[dissolution of the monasteries|dissolution]] in 1534.