Faversham Stone Chapel facts for kids
Faversham Stone Chapel, also called Our Lady of Elwarton, is a special old chapel. It was built a long time ago, in the Middle Ages. What makes it unique is that it stands right on top of an even older Roman building. This Roman building might have been a tomb or a special shrine.
The chapel is found near the town of Faversham in Kent, England. Experts believe this area was once a Roman town called Durolevum. It's the only chapel in England built this way, using parts of an ancient Roman structure.
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The Old Roman Building
Roman Faversham
Today, the Faversham Stone Chapel is in a quiet countryside area. But long ago, when the Romans were in Britain, this place was busy! There might have been a Roman army camp nearby at Judd Hill. People have found many Roman items there, like old coins.
A Roman cemetery, where about 387 people were buried, is also close by. In 2012, archaeologists found a huge Roman theatre in Faversham. It was shaped like a cockpit and could hold up to 12,000 people! This was the first theatre of its kind found in Britain. All these discoveries make experts think that Faversham might be the Roman town of Durolevum. This town is mentioned in an old Roman travel guide called the Antonine Itinerary.
What the Roman Building Looked Like
The Roman building underneath the chapel was almost square. Its walls were about 17 feet long and 3 feet thick. The Romans built these walls in a special way. They used flint stones for the bottom part. Then, they layered tufa blocks with red bricks.
The building had no windows and a curved roof. Its doorway was made from a single large stone called greensand. You can still see the bottom part of this doorway today. The floor was made of a strong, waterproof concrete called opus signinum. This concrete was made from crushed tiles or bricks, which gave it a reddish color. The walls inside were covered with plaster and painted red. They might have even had fancy pictures called frescoes.
Experts believe this Roman building was a mausoleum, which is a grand tomb. However, they haven't found any burials inside, so they can't be completely sure. Since there's no Roman villa (a large house) or cemetery right next to it, some people think it might have been a Roman temple or a small Christian shrine instead.
The Medieval Church
After the Roman building became old and broken, a new church was built on top of it. This happened in the Middle Ages. It's possible that a wooden Saxon church was there even before the medieval stone church.
The medieval builders were clever! They used the strong Roman walls as the base for their new church. The Roman building became the chancel, which is the part of the church near the altar. The main part of the church, called the nave, was built to the west.
In the 13th century, the church was made bigger. Strong supports called buttresses were added to the sides. The green sandstone door frames from the old Roman building were reused in these buttresses. You can still see them there today! By the 1500s, the chapel was falling apart. It seems to have been left empty by the 1600s.
Today, Faversham Stone Chapel is protected as an ancient monument. This means it's a very important historical site.
