St Mary’s Church, Kemsing

The Church of Saint Mary The Virgin in Kemsing is a Grade II listed building and it is thought that some of the stones in the south wall date from 1060. There is a tradition that the church is haunted by a knight. The following description of the haunting is extracted from an article in the Kent and Sussex Courier entitled ‘The ghastly ghouls rumoured to haunt our sleepy district’ dating from 31 October 2008. ‘in Kemsing, a devout knight in shining armour is known to clank silently into St Mary’s Church, kneel down to pray at the altar for a moment, then vanish for another year. December 29 is his anniversary.’

The knight is thought to be either Sir Reginald Fitzurse (Born 1145 – Died 1173), Sir Hugh de Morville, Lord of Westmorland (Died 1202), Sir William II de Tracy (Died c. 1189) or Sir Richard le Breton, one of the four knights who murdered Thomas à Becket on 29 December 1170. According to local legend the four knights rode through Kemsing on their way to kill Becket in Canterbury.