Church Of St George

The Church of St George is a parish church dating from 1824-27, originally designed by Henry Hemsley, with subsequent alterations by H.E. Kendall and an interior restoration in 1884 by William White. It is constructed of white brick with stone dressings, covered by a slate roof. The building incorporates elements of Gothic styles.

The church comprises a nave with aisles, a chancel with vestries, and a two-stage west tower with an octagonal lantern connected by flying buttresses to the parapet and pinnacles. The tower features two-light belfry openings with crocketed ogee hoods and traceried panels containing clock faces. A three-light reticulated and perpendicular-style window is located on the west face. The western, south-west, and north-west doorways are constructed in a perpendicular style, featuring crocketted ogee hoods with stiffleaf capitals to attached columns—a detail reminiscent of the Early English style—and flights of steps. The western doorway is particularly grand, with rails, footscrapers, and swan-neck iron lamp standards. Gabled porches with Perpendicular tracery are integrated into the doorways. The nave is characterised by a triple lancet clerestory and aisle windows of two lights in a geometric style, with offset buttresses, plinths, battlements, and pinnacles. The chancel has a shallow, canted apse with buttresses, battlements, tall perpendicular-style lights, octagonal flanking turrets, and doubled chimney stacks. Low brick vestries, in part extensions dating to 1884, are set at ground level.

The interior features an eight-bay nave arcade with lofty, moulded arches on clustered columns. There is a ribbed vaulted roof and a crocketted chancel arch flanked by panelled arches. Galleries with blind arcaded sides are supported by cast iron columns, which incorporate plaster roofs on moulded and braced cross beams. Fittings are largely from the 19th century, by William White, and a chancel screen from the early 20th century is present. A wall painting on the west wall, "From Darkness To Light" by Henry Weigall (a Ramsgate resident), dates from 1885. Stained glass from 1961 is by A.E. Buss. The initial construction cost was reported at either £32,000 or £23,034, with contributions from the Church Commissioners (£9,000), the citizens of Ramsgate (£3,000), and Trinity House (£1,000), who used the tower as a navigational landmark. Despite the eclectic mix of architectural styles, likely resulting from changes in architects, and the somewhat thin detailing, the church represents a quality example, exceeding the standard of Georgian Gothic architecture.