The Chancel. © PE Blanche 2002 The view across the farm. © PE Blanche 2002

A delightful little Church which, despite its position on a rise out of the village, is still hard to see as it's located behind a farm and all the barns and buildings associated with it. If it wasn't for the tower which is a recent addition, having only been added about 150 years ago, it would be impossible to see from the road. Fortunately, the Victorians seem to have made few alterations within the Church other than the tower and one of the pillars of the South aisle which really restored the location to where it might have been, as it had been changed once before. I arrived just before the Sunday morning service started which is often the only time to gain entry to many of these country churches these days. In fact, the Churchwarden came up the pathway to the Church just as I was in the process of taking my first picture of the exterior. I am very grateful to him for allowing me into the Church as the congregation slowly started to arrive so that I could at least take a few quick pictures for these pages. Entering through the Tudor porch into the Nave gives an immediate feeling of the solid foundation of this small Church including the thickness of the walls. There is no guide issued about the Church but the Churchwarden was eager to point out that it is probable that parts of the walls of the nave and Chancel date from Saxon times. Other references I have read on the Church seem to dismiss this possibility and there is no doubt that the rounded arch between the Cancel and the Nave is Norman. It is also normal for this Norman construction to incorporate this immensely solid and thick walls but there is nothing to say that their work did not start on previous Saxon foundations. The Church is said to have in its possession a rare medieval cope, once worn by the Vicar or Priest. I was not able to see this but again, as more of the congregation filtered into the small Nave and then the Vicar arrived, it was time for me and my flashing camera to depart.

© PE Blanche 2002	On the wall of the Nave by the Chancel arch is the brass memorial plate dedicated to the men of the village who died in the Great War. It is kept so highly polished that it was very difficult to photograph. + TO THE GLORY OF GOD + AND IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THIS PARISH WHO DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY 1914   IN THE GREAT WAR  1918 Walter John Laming Pte RMLI H.M.S. Bulwark 26 Nov 1914 Albert Charles Dixon Pte The Buffs 24 May 1915 Ernest Richard Amos Pte Middlesex Regt 10 Sept 1916 Arthur Albert Finnis Pte The Buffs 7 Oct 1916 Walter James Gage Pte The Buffs 10 Oct 1916 Fred Amos Pte Warwickshire Regt 10 Dec 1916 William Ernest Finnis Pte East Lancashire Regt 10 Sept 1917 William Henry Marsh Pte Royal West Kent Regt 2 DEC 1917 Robert Reginald Atkins Boy 1st Class RN H.M.S. Dominion 21 Apl 1918 George William Foreman Lce Cpl Royal Sussex Regt 18 Sept 1918
The Nave and Chancel, St. Augustine's, East Langdon, Kent. © PE Blanche 2002