St Mary's Church, Cliffsend, Kent

St Mary's Church, Cliffsend Church

Image Source: Rob Baker

Cliffsend is a modern village situated on the cliff top overlooking Pegwell Bay. The locality is famous for being the site of St. Augustine's landing on English soil in AD597 when, instructed by Pope Gregory the Great, he reintroduced the Christian faith to southern England. The site of his first sermon to the Kentish King Ethelbert has been marked by a Celtic stone cross designed by J. Roddis in 1884. Over 7m high, it features carvings depicting archbishops, angels and beasts. In 1949 the Danish gifted England with the Hugin, a replica Nordic longship built to commemorate 1,500 years since England was invaded by the Saxons of Hengist and Horsa in AD449. Horsa was killed in battle, but Hengist later became the first King of Kent. In the 11th century the small town of Stonar began to grow near the mouth of the Wantsum, the stretch of water that separated the island of Thanet from the rest of mainland Kent. It had a church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, but in 1385 Stonar was destroyed by French raiders and was never rebuilt. What was left fell into ruin and was eventually claimed by the sea. By the mid-19th century the area consisted of a few scattered farms. In 1871 the Primitive Methodists built a small chapel on what was then a country lane, bringing Christian teachings to the labourers who worked on the farms and fields. Following the Methodist Union in 1932, the simple brick chapel was deemed surplus to requirements and closed. Almost immediately the Church of England rented the building and began using it as an Anglican Mission Church, administered by clergy from Ramsgate's ancient Parish Church of St. Laurence-in-Thanet. Between 1954-57 it was bought by the Church of England and dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. In the 18th century St. Laurence had previously had a chapel-of-ease near Ramsgate Harbour, known as St. Mary's Chapel. That chapel was destroyed during WWII and later demolished but the dedication to St. Mary was revived here at Cliffsend. The building has since been repurposed, but more for practical reasons rather than to facilitate Anglican worship in a non-conformist building. It was clearly unsafe to have the existing doorway opening straight onto a narrow street, so a side door was built with the original east-facing doorway converted into a window with panels of blue, green and yellow glass. Stained-glass was inserted into the small roundel beneath the roof gable, depicting the Cross rising from the flames. The Methodist "Lord's Table" was previously behind a partitioned sanctuary at the opposite end to the entrance and for a period of time the Anglican "altar" (possibly the same piece of ecclesiastical furnishing!) was here too, but it had to be moved in the 1980s when a new vestry, kitchen and toilet were built to the rear of the church. Briefly they experimented by placing the altar at the liturgical east end, in front of the former doorway converted into a window. This idea was apparently soon shelved when frequent latecomers to church came in on windy days and the constant opening of the new side door extinguished the candles! It was then moved opposite the new entrance to face south, with two clear windows behind letting in the sunlight. Modern seating and carpet; along with hanging wall banners and other religious items, together with freshly displayed flowers give this lovely little church a homely and welcoming feel - as though you are inside someone's house rather than a formal place of worship! Text by Rob Baker

1851 Census Details

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