ONLY combination Romano/British church in England, Faversham, UK
N 51° 18.965 E 000° 51.388
31U E 350621 N 5687156
These ruins of a stone church are advertised as "the ONLY Christian building in England to incorporate within its fabric the remains of a 4th-century Romano-British pagan mausoleum."
Waymark Code: WMMJCD
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/27/2014
Views: 1
On the outskirts of Faversham, there is a low-lying field with the ruins of a stone church, which was built to incorporate walls which were first used as a Roman tomb (or mausoleum).
The ruins are now under the protection of the English Heritage program, and the ruins are open for public viewing.
The ruins have been excavated, studied and measured several times; it is reported that the Roman mausoleum was built with a foundation of flint, 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. Rearchers 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.
This website is a source for the proof of the superlative status:
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visit link)