The Church of St Mary the Virgin is a Grade II* listed Anglican church, a parish church in Dover,

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 ...

, and is situated on Cannon Street in the town centre. There was a church on this site in Saxon times. It was largely rebuilt in the 19th century.

Early history

The church stands on the site of Roman baths; it is thought there was originally a Saxon church here. Three churches in Dover are mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

, and it has been supposed that these are St Mary's, St James' and St Peter's. The oldest parts of the existing building are the tower and three bays of the arcades, which are

Norman architecture The term Norman architecture is used to categorise styles of Romanesque architecture developed by the Normans in the various lands under their dominion or influence in the 11th and 12th centuries. In particular the term is traditionally used f ...

of the early 12th century.St "A History of St. Mary's Parish Church"
Official site, accessed 28 September 2019.St Mary's Church
Dover Town Council, accessed 3 April 2015. Via

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

. From 1230 the church was controlled by Maison Dieu, which was built in Dover in 1203 to accommodate pilgrims from overseas visiting Canterbury Cathedral. The church was closed in 1537, at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but opened in 1544 as a parish church, after a petition of the townspeople. From 1581 it was the official church of the Mayor and

corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and ...

instead of St Peter's Church (which stood on the northern side of the market square and was in disrepair; it was demolished soon afterwards).St Mary's Church
Old Dover in words and pictures, accessed 24 January 2015.

Rebuilding

In 1843–1844, during the incumbency of Canon John Puckle, the church, except for the tower, was rebuilt in Early English style. The work was carried out by J. C. & C. Buckler. The church was enlarged and clerestory windows were added. The tower was restored in 1897. The church was damaged during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, but was not directly hit. Many of the stained glass windows were destroyed. Windows have been installed since the war to commemorate important relations between the church and the town.

Bells

The church has eight bells, originally made by Samuel Knight in 1724. In 1898, at the time the tower was restored, the bells were rehung in a new frame by

John Warner & Sons John Warner and Sons was a metalworks and bellfoundry based in various locations in the UK, established in 1739 and dissolved in 1949. Previous businesses A company was founded by Jacob Warner, a Quaker, in 1739 and originally produced water pu ...

, who recast the treble bell. The bells have since then been rehung twice, in 1947 and 2002.

Memorial

The church houses the main memorial to the victims of the MS ''Herald of Free Enterprise'', which capsized outside

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...

in Belgium on its way to Dover on 6 March 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dover, St Mary's Church St Mary Grade II* listed churches in Kent Church of England church buildings in Kent Diocese of Canterbury Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom 19th-century Church of England church buildings