"It is not known how many churches there have been in Eastchurch, but we do know that in 1194 the church of Eastchurch was donated to the Abbey of our Lady of Dunes (Ten Duinen) in Koksijde, in present-day Belgium, by King Richard I (Lionheart). This was because the Abbot had been instrumental in securing the King’s release from captivity in Austria. This may have been the first church, but this is uncertain as there had most probably been an earlier wooden church at least. The reason the King was able to donate the church to Ten Duinen was firstly that this was under patronage of the King and secondly that the Rector at the time, William of Dainte-Mère-Église, stepped down and then consecrated as Bishop of London. This would suggest that Eastchurch Church was some sort of importance.
A new church was in 1243 and in time ownership passed to Boxley Abbey. These earlier churches are believed to have been situated near the current Parsonage Farm around half a mile to the south of the current church. By the year 1430, the church had become ruin, its foundations having collapsed. William Cheyne, as Lord of the Manor, felt it his duty to take steps in the matter, the large garrison of soldiers and their wives and children kept at Shurland being seriously in want of spiritual provision. He consulted with his wealthy neighbours the Northwodes, and they resolved to communicate at once the patron, the Abbot of Boxley.
In 1431 William Cheyne was granted a Royal Licence to donate a portion of land (three roods) on the Shurland Estate to “Our beloved in Christ, the Abbot and Convent of Blessed Mary of Boxley” for the building of a new church of Eastchurch. The Abbot decided that William Nudds, a Cistercian monk of Boxley, what was known to him as a man taking great interest in all buildings, should design a new church and act as architect during its erection.
Soon William Nudds was at work. Masons were supplied from among the lay brothers, and a supply of stone cutters from the travelling guilds helped out. He was determined that his church would not suffer the fate of the earlier ones, as the ‘London City’ of Sheppey was notoriously unstable on which to build. To make strong foundations he had deep ditches dug and monks brought boulders from the mainland. Into the ditches the chalk was thrown and the ground covered. Large stones were brought up from the Maidstone Valley and from the ruins of the old church.
And so the church was completed in one year and was consecrated on All Saints’ Day 1432, with William Nudds becoming its first vicar.
The building and its Contents -
The style is Perpendicular, and is a good example of sound noble architectural symmetry. It has an embattled roof and a lofty tower with flint-work in a checkerboard design. From the tower roof there is a fine view across the Thames to Essex on a clear day. The tower is 17.6 meters from the top of the battlements to the ground.
The tower houses a peal of six bells; five of which were cast in Kent and date from 1605. Number 1 was added in 1911 to commemorate the Coronation of King George V. An information board hangs in the ringing chamber outlining the provenance and size of the other bells.
The clock, which strikes the tenor bell every hour, was made by Forster of Sheerness, and given by the Churchwardens in 1804. The clock is now powered electrically; the cost of which was born by the secular Parish Council in Eastchurch.
Symmetry is a note both inside and outside the building. Inside the measurements are interesting – the width of the Nave and Chancel is twice the width of their respective aisles, and measure the same as the height of the aisles walls. The width of the Nave and aisles together measures the same as their length, and the width of the aisles measures the same as the height of the capitals and pillars.
The wide Rood Screen, covering both the Chancel and the Chapels has beautiful tracery throughout and is believed to be the original to the building. It is also believed to be the only Rood Screen in the county to be original and spanning the whole width of the church without interruption. Between the choir and the Lady Chapel is part of an earlier parclose screen of delicate workmanship.
The pulpit is oak, and dates from the Jacobean or possibly late Elizabethan times.
The roof is panelled and the tie beams are continues down the sidewalls with curved brackets, which rest on angel corbels with shields. In the Nave and chancel, these shields are painted with coats of arms representing various saints, Keble College, Oxford (Patrons of the Living) and families connected with the parish, details o fwhich are in a framed description.
The Chancel itself is unusually long, and is almost equal to the length of the Nave – probably due to the church’s early monastic connections. The Chancel and Sanctuary were refurbished and fitted with Choir Stalls in 1872 and the stained glass window fitted In the East Wall behind the Altar, depicting Christ and the writers of the four Gospels, all in memory of Thomas Briggs Dickson, Rector from 1858 to 1870.
Two Hagioscopes or squints pierce the north and south Chancel walls, so that people in the side chapels might have a view of the High Altar.
On the south side of the Chancel is a fine alabaster tomb of Sir Gabriel Livesey and his second wife Anne, of Parsonage Farm Eastchurch. The kneeling figure of a youth is that of their son Micheal, one of the signatories of the death warrant of King Charles I in 1649. The other child, Robert, died in infancy. Nobody knows for certain the meaning of the Negro’s head. Possibly there is a connection with Anne Sondes, as “Three Moors’ Heads stable” occur on the Sondes coat of Arms.
On the north side of the Chancel is the Organ. The choir stalls with linenfold panelling are late Victorian.
The Lady Chapel houses the Tabernacle that is a masterpiece of Victoriana. On the south side of the Altar is a painting by Claire van Nerom of “Our Lady of the Dunes”, copied from the Abbey seal. The Masonna wears a red not blue robe, as was the custom in Flanders at that time.
For many years this chapel was used as a school, but in 1930 it was restored and refurbished for worship. There is quantity of carved oak Flemish panelling originally in the former Cathedral of Saint Martin at Ierper (Ypres, Belgium). It is roughly contemporary with the Jacobean Pulpit. The remainder of the panelling lines the walls at the West End.
In the Nave hang two brass twelve branched candelabra of the reign of George II and are engraved with the names of two Churchwardens.
An Alms-box that stands by a pillar near the south door is a relic of the pre-1432 church. The Incumbent and each of the two Churchwardens held a key to each of its three locks. It is carved from a solid piece of oak.
Of the stained glass, there are two good windows in the Lady Chapel. One depicts the Resurrection and the other, Samuel and the finding of the child Jesus in the Temple. The latter is in memory of two sons of the Rector, Richard Henry Dickson, and grandson of the previous rectors who were drowned, in a sailing accident in 1890 at Leysdown. Perhaps the most interesting glass is in memory of the earliest fatal flying accidents, in which Charles Stewart Rolls and Cecil Stanley Grace died in July and December 1910. This window was designed by Karl Parsons and was unveiled on 26th July 1912. It has since been restored at the expense of Rolls Royce
Richard Henry Dickson, Rector from 1870 until 1927, passed the Advowson of the Parish to Keble College in order to maintain in perpetuity the Anglo Catholic tradition of the Parish.
In 2004 the Sanctuary roof collapsed and work to restore it began in April 2009 and was completed in November of that year with funding help from, especially, English Heritage.
In 2012 the West end of the church was re-ordered to provide a large area for church and Community, this project was named, the Jubilee Project. The pews were removed and the existing flooring was replaced with new oak joints and the floor was raised to the level of the top of the plinth on which stands the original Font. A ramp was created to enable the raised floor and the kitchen and West door to become accessible for wheelchair users.
In 2017, the exterior roof was removed and replaced with the funding coming, especially, from the National Lottery Heritage Fund."
SOURCE - (
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There is a very good history of the church in
Archaeologia Cantiana Vol. 14, 1882 - (
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