The Great Ship, Snargate © PE Blanche 2002 The Nave and Chancel © PE Blanche 2002

This Church has many strong associations with smuggling on the Romney Marshes. Some are fact, some may be fantasy and the whole truth we will never know. As it says on my pages about smuggling the Reverend Richard Harris Barham would often meet members of the Aldington Gang when he was making his way home late at night. He also claimed that he could find his way directly to the Church from the aroma of tobacco. It is said that a picture of a ship opposite the entrance to these Marsh churches meant that it was a safe place to store contraband. This Church has such a picture but it is the only one that I know of. The wall painting is meant to be difficult to photograph although I had no problem. (However, I was upset that my large flashgun had decided to quit on me earlier on the day I visited this Church which resulted in my only being able to take a limited number of pictures.) There has been much specualtion about this painting which has only recently been discovered. It was originally descibed as a "carrack" but general opinion seems to suggest it is more likely to be a type called a "great ship" which dated from around 1480 - 1520 is similar to a picture of the flagship of Lord Howard of Effingham, The Ark Royal, at the time of the Spanish Armada in 1588. Lord Howard of Effingham was based at Plymouth but Lord Henry Seymour, was ordered to guard the narrow stretch of sea between Kent and the Netherlands, from where the Spanish invasion force was to launch its attack. Lord Seymour's squadron was known as the Narrow Seas Squadron. The Cinque Ports provided sailors and ships for the "Navy" in those days and these men were highly regarded for their skills. It's only speculation on my part but I have to wonder if one of the members of this community served on one of these ships some time in the 16th Century and then was asked to complete this painting for the rest of the congregation to be given some idea of the might of the English sea power? Whether the picture of the ship was connected to smuggling or not, the Church was definitely used for storing contraband. The North East corner of the Church was actually sectioned off from teh rest of the Church and could only be accessed from a door in the North Wall. At different times a large amount of tobacco was found in the belfrey and seized by the authorities and a cask of gin was found under the vestry table - facts that bear out the statement made by the Rev'd Barham. It is rather difficult to understand why such a large Church should serve such a small population which these days consists of about ten houses and the Red Lion public house. Even in 1821 the local population was only 93 souls but in the previous century there were a row of cottages opposite the Church which served as the local workhouse. If a workhouse was required then there must have been a suffiently large population to warrant the facility veing here.