1190: The Pope Who Accidentally Built Kent's Most Beautiful Village Church - Barfrestone

In 1190, the Archbishop of Canterbury lost a fight with the Pope — and a tiny Kent village accidentally inherited some of the finest Romanesque stonework in England. The village of Barfrestone, in Kent, has rarely had more than 100 people. It has no business having a church like this. But when a medieval power struggle between the Pope, an archbishop, and lobbying monks collapsed spectacularly, the carved stone destined for a would-be rival to Canterbury Cathedral had to go somewhere. This is the story of a papal veto, a noble family with an eye for a bargain, and the most extraordinary village church in Kent — where some of it, even now, is upside down.