St Mary The Virgin's Church, West Langdon, Kent

St Mary The Virgin's Church, West Langdon Church

Image Source: Rob Baker

St. Mary's is a Victorian-era rebuilding of a ruinous medieval church. There had been a church on this site since before 1189, the year when Canons from the Premonstratensian Order founded Langton Abbey, a short distance away across the fields. The Abbey was dissolved in 1535 during the early stages of the Reformation. It was later given to the Thornhill family by Elizabeth I and rebuilt as a manorial farmhouse. The body of Sir Timothy Thornhill (died 1648) was buried under the High Altar, although it appears that the church was already falling into dilapidation. In 1660 Sir Thomas Peyton, a Baronet from the Knowlton Estate, provided the funding for some major repairs. The timber for the pews and pulpit was in the churchyard ready to be assembled, but it was stolen in the middle of the night and the restoration plans never came to fruition. In 1800 Hasted recorded that the church was in ruins, with only the outer walls remaining. Despite this the Rector of East Langdon still had the duty to appoint a curate to West Langdon. The churchyard was used for burials even though there wasn't a functioning church. In 1863 a Congregational church was built close to the village crossroads. The non-conformists were quick to detect areas without an Anglican church. This church - later a URC - in a village with rarely more than 60 inhabitants - remained extant until December 2019. In 1869, spurred into action by the sudden presence of the Congregationals, the owner of Langdon Abbey, Benjamin Taylor, and the tenant farmer, Richard Coleman, financed a complete rebuilding of St. Mary's. Only the stone dressings surrounding the west door and a pile of flint in the south-west corner remained from the medieval church. The new church was a simple flint structure consisting of a nave and sanctuary under one roof, a small bellcote at the west end and a separate vestry to the north-east corner. In 1906 the church again needed major restoration work after a fire broke out when a coke stove was left on overnight, destroying everything apart from the exterior walls. It was rebuilt and re-opened in 1908 with the addition of a new western porch with a north-facing door. The east window, designed by Coakes and manufacted by James Powell & Son, commemorates Richard Coleman, who also contributed to the 1892 restoration of St. Augustine's, East Langdon, and is buried in the churchyard there. It features as its subject Christ showing various Acts of Mercy and was installed in 1909 after the latest restoration. The trim and well-made wooden furnishings all date from this Edwardian-era refurbishment. In 1969 the church survived moves by the Diocese of Canterbury to have it declared redundant, but over half a century later it is now used only as a Festival Church and opened for services once a month. At the time of writing, it is unclear what the future holds. Outside the church, near the east window is a gravestone eulogising a Wesleyan Methodist preacher, Thomas Ash (died 1871), a rare piece of ecumenism contained within an Anglican churchyard. Text by Rob Baker

1851 Census Details

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Architecture Details

Original Build Date/Architect: 1869

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