Old St Mary's, Walmer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids The Blessed Virgin Mary Church |
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Old St Mary's Church, Walmer, from the southeast
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 The Blessed Virgin Mary Church
Location in Kent
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| 51°12′11″N 1°23′13″E / 51.203°N 1.387°E | |
| OS grid reference | TR 256 628 |
| Location | Walmer, Kent |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | Walmer Parish Churches |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Grade II* |
| Designated | 1 June 1949 |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Flint, roughcast |
Old St Mary's Church, also known as The Blessed Virgin Mary Church, is a very old and important Anglican church. It is located in Upper Walmer, Kent, England. This church is listed as Grade II*, which means it is a special historic building.
Contents
History of Old St Mary's Church
How Old Is This Church?
This church is super old! It was built in 1120, during the early Norman period. Back then, it was a small chapel for the nearby Walmer Manor. The manor house is now just ruins.
What Does the Church Look Like?
The church is quite small. The main part, called the nave, is built from flint stones. The lower part of the chancel (the area near the altar) has a rough plaster finish called roughcast.
You can still see some of the original Norman features. These include the entrance door and the arch that leads into the chancel. There are also two original windows on the south side.
Changes Over the Years
In the early 1800s, a large side section, called a north aisle, was added to the church. This happened between 1825 and 1826. However, this new section was taken down in 1898. This made the church return to its original, smaller size.
The south doorway is also from the early Norman period. It has big columns and fancy tops (called capitals) shaped like scallops. The arch leading to the chancel looks similar to the south doorway. Its inner arch has cushion-shaped capitals and extra decorative moulding.
Famous Visitors and Name Changes
A very famous person, the Duke of Wellington, used to worship here. He stayed at Walmer Castle when he was the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. His special shield, called a hatchment, hangs on the north wall. It was put back in its original spot when the north aisle was removed in 1898.
Old St Mary's was once the only church in Walmer. But in the 1800s, two other churches were built: St Saviour's and New St Mary's. Because of this, the original church became known as Old St Mary's.
Special Features Inside the Church
What Can You See Inside?
The church has a simple font (a basin for baptisms) with a cone-shaped cover. It dates back to 1664. Above the chancel arch, there's an old wall painting. It's patched up and hard to make out now.
At the east end of the chancel, there's a beautiful stained glass window. It shows Our Lady and Child and was made around 1913. Other stained glass windows from the 20th century show Saint Raphael and Saint Elizabeth of Hungary.
Monuments and Carvings
You can find a special tablet monument in the chancel. It remembers William L'Isle and Edmund L'Isle, who both passed away in 1637. There are also many other tablet monuments from the 1800s in the nave. A monument to Sir Henry Harvey, who died in 1810, is in the middle of the south wall.
On the north end of the nave's south wall, there's a 14th-century piscina. This is a stone basin with a pointed arch, used for washing sacred vessels.
See also
- St. George's Episcopal Memorial Church, a church in the US that has a stained glass window. This window contains small pieces of glass collected from Old St Mary's Church after it was damaged during World War II.
