Church Of St Mary The Virgin

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is a parish church dating from 1861, designed by Arthur Ashpitel. It is constructed from flint with a plain tiled roof and built in a Romanesque style, deliberately imitating St. Nicholas Church in Barfrestone. The church comprises a nave, a chancel with a north vestry, and a three-stage western tower topped with a lead spire. The west doorway has attached shafts, a billet and rope-mould surround. The nave and chancel feature offset buttresses and round-headed windows with roll-moulded surrounds, mirroring the detailing at Barfrestone, with lancet windows in the nave and a three-light window to the east.

Inside, a possible 12th-century reveal to a window is visible on the west wall of the nave. The nave has a queen strut roof. The chancel arch is a close imitation of that at Barfrestone, incorporating twisted attached shafts, a zig-zag moulded arch, and side niches. The shafts on the chancel windows are painted gold. A simple round-headed doorway leads to the vestry. The fittings include an octagonal font dated R P, and a hatchment on the west wall. Reset wooden plaques on the south wall of the nave bear brass inscriptions and shields commemorating Thomas Warren, who died in 1591, and William Warren, who died in 1612; both were significant supporters of various Cinque Ports. A chancel wall tablet is dedicated to Captain Andrew Rand, who died in 1680. Notable monuments include a fine white marble cartouche with palm fronds, an acanthus roll, a draped urn, a naval relief, the crest of a painted coat of arms (a hog), and those to Robert Bowles (d. 1734) and members of the Lynch family (from 1765 to 1789). A large wall tablet in the nave features an oval plaque above two round plaques, all encircled by oak-leaf wreaths, a central palmette supporting a shield, and a corniced apron with palm fronds, culminating in an urn. Neo-classical wall tablets are present for Elizabeth Herring, who died in 1811, and Robert Henson and Sarah Walls, who died in 1817 and 1841 respectively; these are signed by John Bax of Deal and depict a weeping palm and urn over a sarcophagus. The monument to Stephen Watts, who was born in New York but served for Britain in the War of Independence and died in London in 1810, is also included. A recess in the nave’s south wall, made of coloured marble, provides a Barfrestone-style window opening and commemorates John Baker Sladen, who died in 1860. A painted Royal Coat of Arms can be found within the west porch.