Church Of St Augustine Of England (Roman Catholic) With Cloisters Attached

The Church of St. Augustine of England (Roman Catholic) with attached cloisters, located on St. Augustine's Road in Ramsgate, was built between 1845 and 1851 by Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin. Subsequent additions and alterations were made in 1858 and 1897 by his sons, Edward Welby Pugin and Peter Paul Pugin, and in 1884. The church is constructed from knapped flint with Whitby stone dressings, and has fish-scaled tiled roofs.

The building is in the English Decorated style, comprising a two-bay nave and south aisle, a crossing, south transept, a two-bay chancel, and a south chancel aisle. Features include a four-light west window to the nave, two-light windows to the south aisle, a four-light trancept window, two two-light windows to the south chancel aisle, a four-light east chancel window, and a south porch against the south transept. The steeply pitched roofs have quatrefoil ventilation openings. A crossing tower, extending only to the bell stage, has two lancet windows on each face.

The interior boasts high-quality sandstone ashlar and oak roofs, panelled in the chancel and chancel aisle. There is a two-bay Decorated style arcade of four arches from the crossing, originally intended to be dominated by a rood screen—this was removed from the High Altar and later pulpit around 1972. Nave benches and chancel stalls have been returned to the site of the former High Altar. A crucifix by Pugin, incorporating a medieval figure, stands against a crossing pier. A stone font with an elaborate wooden cover, designed by Pugin and made by George Myers and exhibited in 1857, is located in the south aisle. Pugin’s chantry in the south transept contains an oak parclose screen, a stone altar, Pugin’s tomb with a recumbent effigy and kneeling family mourners, and a window depicting Pugin as the donor of the church, with his two deceased wives. Family brasses are also present. The Lady Chapel in the south chancel features a stone altar and a metal screen dating from around 1862, designed by John Hardman Powell, with Pugin’s former chancel rood screen re-erected around the altar. Significant early glasswork designed by Pugin is also present, alongside Minton tesselated floor tiles throughout the building.

The single-storey west cloister range features a gabled entrance from the road with double boarded doors in a moulded arched surround incorporating figurative sculpture. The north cloister range has a four-light traceried window and a door below, and a two-stage tower with a lead spirelet, representing the original church of 1847. The east range of the cloister contains a substantial two-storey range of uncertain original purpose. Within the cloister are two chapels by Peter Paul Pugin and one by Edward Welby Pugin (1859), the latter gifted by Kenelm Digby.

The church was built by Pugin, utilising his professional fees, reportedly reaching up to £20,000. Upon his death in 1852, it was bequeathed to the Roman Catholic diocese of Southwark and from 1856 was used by Benedictine monks of St. Augustine’s Abbey, connected by a tunnel below St. Augustine's Road. The church was consecrated in 1884 and represents Pugin’s favourite and most personal architectural endeavor, showcasing work from his regular collaborators, George Myers, John Hardman, and Herbert Minton, alongside contributions from his sons.