St Paul’s Church was
located at the bottom of Artillery Road, on Ramsgate’s King Street. The church had an entrance from King Street
and a side entrance from Sussex Street.
St Paul’s stood here for
80 years. Part of the curved apse was
retained.
1872 Map. The site of the church was formely Artillery
Place, a cul-de-sac of nine terraced houses, that were pulled down in
1873. St Paul’s was consecrated on 22nd
May 1874.
1907 map of St Paul’s
Church.
St Paul’s was opened in
1873. The Kent Coast Times, 20th
November 1873 reported: The architect
is Mr R Wheeler of Tunbridge Wells, the builders being Messrs. Smith & Son
of Ramsgate. The dimensions are: total length 68ft, width 29ft, height to
apex of nave roof 83ft, accommodation 250, style, simple pointed. The church will have a nave, chancel and in
one aisle a vestry will be formed at the farther end of the aisle, and at the
other end will be a porch. The walls
will be carried up to form a turret, whose height will be 150ft. The church will be almost lighted by
clerestory windows above the aisle roof, the nave roof being an open timber one
with tie beams. The walls are to be
bricks of the neighbourhood, built hollow with a lining inside of red
bricks. There will be no internal
plastering, the red bricks will be the finished face of the walls. The nave will be divided from the aisle by
columns of polished red Peterhead granite, supporting pointed arches of red and
black brick. The window cills, heads
and mullions will be of bath stone. The
cost of the building, exclusive of site will be almost £1,150.
The ecclesiastical
authorities felt St Paul’s was too small, so it was enlarged and remodelled in
1887.
The tower of St Paul’s on
Sussex Street, and the same view today below.
The base of the tower
still remains and was incorporated into a garage wall.
Above, the church boundary
wall was retained to the rear of Barton Court.
And the good news is that I think I have persuaded Ben
to start his own blog.
Above, the grassed area
was the central nave. Wall retained to
the right.
Above the nave, and the
view to day below. “The seats are
entirely free and unappropriated” – Kent Coast Times 27th January
1887.
The demolition of St
Paul’s, courtesy of SEAS Photography (The South East Archive of Seaside
Photography), and Thanet District Council. The above photograph appeared in the
East Kent Times on 13th February, 1959 accompanied with the
following text: Church authorities at
Diocesan House, Canterbury, were asked by the East Kent Times and Mail reporter
what would happen to some of the more valuable and useful articles in the
building. “Some of the windows have
already been installed in St Mildred’s Church, Canterbury,” said a
spokesman. “The remainder are in the
care of the Canterbury Cathedral glassworks.”
The spokesman said that such things as pews, desks and Bibles had been
given to St George’s and Holy Trinity Churches, Ramsgate. The Rood Cross, which is in the church’s war
memorial, and the Crucifix from the side chapel, had been put in store. The storing of these articles is under the
Church Commissioners’ scheme.
The memorial stone for St
Paul’s. It was acquired by Mr Brian
Fagg from the demolition contractors as they were about to smash it up. It was transferred to St George’s
Church. It reads: TO THE GLORY OF GOD, THIS STONE WAS LAID BY
THE RT HON E.R KING HARMAN MP, JULY 29 1886.
The St Paul’s bell was
presented to St Christopher’s Church, Newington, where it was dedicated on
Sunday, 26th October 1958.
Around 10 years ago, the bell was gifted to a church in Africa.
Further reading: St George-the-Martyr, also St Mary’s &
St Paul’s Churches, Ramsgate, by Brian R Fagg, August 1977.
Occasional Ramsgate Writings by Donald G Long. Published by Michael’s Bookshop, December
2008.
Ed. Here is the link to the previous article about the
church http://www.michaelsbookshop.com/orw/id4.htm
Does its location really fall on a straight line from St Georges to the Church at the top of Thanet Hill ? One for the leyline enthusiasts in the hippy days. Interesting guest post.
ReplyDeleteMy wife was brought up at Irdley Square but can find no images on google. Split flint and diamond leaded pane windows. So if you have anything on that and you can do another guest post be welcome.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting article. I often pass the remaining walled area in King Street and wondered about the history. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete