Faversham Stone Chapel, Faversham, UK - English Heritage - Cadw - Historic Scotland on Waymarking.com

These ruins of a stone church is located in a farm field just a few hundred metres from A2 (formerly known as the Roman Watling Street).

It has been extensively studied and is advertised to be a medieval chapel that was built on top of a Roman mausoleum. The ruins were excavated and studied and measured several times; it is reported to be built on a foundation of flint, and is about 17 feet in length (6 metres) with 3 feet thick walls (1 metre) that are made of square stone blocks (tufa stone and ragstone) intersperced with thinner red Roman bricks. Two external buttresses are still viewable, on the south-west and the north-west corners. The researchers report that the original floor consisted of crushed tiles embedded in concrete that was coloured in red, which is the same color that was painted on the plastered walls.

Researches believe the ruins were originally a Roman-British above-ground tomb, possibly for a high ranking individual or for a family. This type of tomb was common from 2 AD to 4 AD.

The researches have interpreted the ruins and believe that the tomb walls were later incorporated into a Christian church built on the same sight. The tomb was altered to become the chancel, with a stone nave added by the late Saxon period (11th century), made of flint. Additional construction measuring about 25 ft by 78 feet (7.5 metres by 24 metres) was added to the east and west, in the 13th century. Remains of a square graveyard on the north-western side of the stone ruins have been found. A decorative grave slab from the graveyard here is on display at the Maison Dieu at Ospringe. The church was dedicated to Our Lady of Elwarton; researches believe it was abandoned sometime before the 1530s.


Parking for this property is limited; we parked at N 51° 18.916 E 000° 51.341.

There is a geocache here:
GCF718 - "The only known one in England"

Sources: The sign on location, and the English Heritage website listed below.

Property page on English Heritage website: [Web Link] I am an English Heritage Member: no Property Address: 300 Feet south of A2 near Faversham. Property maintained by:: English Heritage

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