All Saints Church, Burmarsh

CHURCH WARDENS

Malcolm Wood: 01303 872463
Heather Bateman: 01303 873781

SECRETARY

Janet Andrew: 01303 872996

TREASURER

Gina Hyson: 01303 872341

CHURCH SERVICES

Holy Communion at 9am on the
2nd and 4th Sunday of each Month.

FUNDRAISING

It costs us about £12 a day to keep our church open. So we rely on our fund raising events to help pay the bills. We have an annual BBQ in July which takes place in the beautiful grounds of a bungalow next to the Church. Lathe Barn hold a steak and kidney lunch during the winter months for the benefit of our church funds. We have a Flower Festival every 2 years in June. Our last flower festival was based on Disney films . It is traditionally a 3 day event where we sell refreshments as well as home-made cakes and preserves.

For the last few years we have also had a plant sale at the same time. We also hold other fund raising events throughout the year.

THE CHURCH

The small church has only a nave, chancel and a west tower. The original Saxon Chapel formed the chancel with the extension of the church in the 11th century. Further extensions and additions took place in the 13th century, with the re- construction of the West Tower in the 14th century. The tower contains 6 bells- two medieval. A third medieval bell, carrying the Royal Arms of England and the foundry mark of a foliate tree indicating that it was cast by the royal bell founder, stands in the nave close to the screen. It is known as the Magdalene Bell and weighs about 8 cwt. It cracked in 1914. It stood outside until 1974 when it was put into its present position. The west tower has a crenellated top. The church had to be substantially reb
uilt during the late 14th century due to the ground being unstable. The work involved rebuilding the tower with two angled buttresses as well as rebuilding the north wall nave and adding two very large buttresses to the south side of the nave. The nave walls were given crenellated tops.

The south entrance is through a porch, which dates from the 19th century, leading to an impressive Norman doorway. It has a typical rounded arch and mouldings. There is a gargoyle of a man’s head. Someone wrote that it looked as if he had toothache! The church was modernised during the time of the Rector J.C.W.Valpy (1876-1881). Its old box pews and three tiered pulpit and sounding board were taken out. Dividing the chancel from the Nave is a wooden screen erected as a memorial to two Burmarsh men
( Albert Butcher and Simeon Beale) who were killed during WW1.
The wooden reredos under the East window was installed at the end of the 19 century. The inscriptions on the beams were added by the Rev. Edmund Ibbotson (1897-1902) and his church wardens. The window is believed to have been in memory of a former Rector Henry Borckhardt who was thrown from his horse and drowned.

In January 2015, the Nave floor was excavated and repaired. The floor was sinking . An old burial vault was discovered, but found to be full of rubble. Canterbury Archaeological Trust were involved in the initial digging and discovery. The excavation hole, after exposure, was soon full of water! As there appeared to be no significant finds, the area was drained and refilled. Thanks to the RMHC Trust and the Headley Trust for grants towards costs.

Information obtained from :Tim Tatton- Brown’s survey 1994 ; J.V Holmes;