The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, commonly shortened to St Mary's, is a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

parish of Walmer,

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

History

It was designed by

Arthur Blomfield Sir Arthur William Blomfield (6 March 182930 October 1899) was an English architect. He became president of the Architectural Association in 1861; a Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1867 and vice-president of the RIBA in ...

in 1887 to take the pressure off the parish's two other churches, the small medieval Old St Mary's and St Saviour's (a Victorian

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

for fishermen on the seafront, opposite the lifeboat house). A spire was designed but never built.

Art and architecture

The entrance is a three-bay

baptistery In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...

, into a tall clerestoried

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with narrow aisles either side. The main west window portrays nautical episodes of Christ's life (e.g. the

miraculous draught of fishes The miraculous catch of fish, or more traditionally the miraculous draught of fish(es), is either of two events commonly (but not universally) considered to be miracles in the canonical gospels. The miracles are reported as taking place years apa ...

, preaching from the boat, calming the storm), the instruments of the Passion) and Saints Peter and Paul, whilst both aisles have five sets of three lancets each, with those on the north showing saints and apostles and those on the south side showing Old Testament figures from

Moses Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...

to Hezekiah. Most windows are by

Powell Powell may refer to: People * Powell (surname) * Powell (given name) * Powell baronets, several baronetcies *Colonel Powell (disambiguation), several military officers *General Powell (disambiguation), several military leaders *Governor Powell (di ...

. The aisles end not in complete arches but in lean-to ones, connecting to the vestry (south) and the soldiers' chapel (north). The central nave, on the other hand, is divided from the chancel by a low alabaster screen, showing Blomfield's adherence to the Cambridge Camden Society's ideal that a chancel and nave should be structurally separate. At the east end, at the High altar is a

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ex ...

designed by Powell's beneath tall triple lancet windows depicting the Ascension, framed by mosaic images of one angel of the left captioned ''Sperate'' (Hope for) and another on the right captioned ''Surgite'' (Arise). The sanctuary tiling is in brown ''

opus sectile ''Opus sectile'' is a form of pietra dura popularized in the ancient and medieval Roman world where materials were cut and inlaid into walls and floors to make a picture or pattern. Common materials were marble, mother of pearl, and glass. The ...

''.

References

External links

Walmer Parish Churches
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walmer, Saint Mary's Church Church of England church buildings in Kent Religious organizations established in 1887 19th-century Church of England church buildings Gothic Revival church buildings in England Gothic Revival architecture in Kent 1887 establishments in England Arthur Blomfield church buildings Diocese of Canterbury