2010

TR2269 : Reculver - Interior Western wall of ruined church

taken 15 years ago, near to Reculver, Kent, Great Britain

Reculver - Interior Western wall of ruined church
Reculver - Interior Western wall of ruined church
This view is along the well-preserved western end of the otherwise ruinous church of St Mary, Reculver. The arch seen ahead leads into the northern of the two towers (seen on the left in TR2269 : Reculver - Western façade of ruined church)
The plaque seen on the left is set into a filled-in central arch which would have been the main west door to the church originally - the external evidence of this can also be seen in the linked photo above.
The plaque states:

These Towers
The remains of the once venerable Church
of Reculvers
Were purchased for the parish
by the
Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond
in the year 1810
and Groins laid down at their expence
to protect the Cliff on which the Church had stood.
When the ancient spires were afterwards blown down,
the present Substitutes were erected,
to render the Towers still sufficiently conspicuous
to be useful to Navigation.
Captn Joseph Cotton, Deputy Master
in the year 1819

Notes:
1 The place is referred to as Reculvers with a final S - this seems to be an error as I can find no record of the village's name ever having been spelt this way.
2 Expence - obsolete spelling of Expense
3 The spires alluded to were wooden steeples formerly atop the towers and the "substitutes" which were installed no longer exist either.
4 The entire inscription is in capital letters - I have capitalised only the words chiselled in larger type.
Reculver - Ancient Monuments

The entire site around the ruined Anglo-Saxon church is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and incorporates the remains of a Saxon Shore Fort and a later Anglo-Saxon monastery built on the site of an earlier temporary Roman military camp along with an Iron Age farmstead. The most noticeable remains are of the mediæval church of St Mary which was founded as long ago as the C7th though most of the existing fabric is centuries younger. The church was almost lost due to coastal erosion and subsequent partial demolition in 1809 but its remnants were rescued and stabilised the following year.
A plaque on the inside western wall states:

These Towers
The remains of the once venerable Church
of Reculvers
Were purchased for the parish
by the
Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond
in the year 1810
and Groins laid down at their expence
to protect the Cliff on which the Church had stood.
When the ancient spires were afterwards blown down,
the present Substitutes were erected,
to render the Towers still sufficiently conspicuous
to be useful to Navigation.
Captn Joseph Cotton, Deputy Master
in the year 1819

Notes:
1 The place is referred to as Reculvers with a final S - this seems to be an error as I can find no record of the village's name ever having been spelt this way.
2 Expence - obsolete spelling of Expense
3 The spires alluded to were wooden steeples formerly atop the towers and the "substitutes" which were installed no longer exist either.
4 The entire inscription is in capital letters - I have capitalised only the words chiselled in larger type.

See EH SAM listing here: LinkExternal link

The entire site is administered by English Heritage and is free to access: LinkExternal link

There is an informative article on Reculver and its monuments on Wikipedia: LinkExternal link


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright Rob Farrow and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Coastal Historic sites and artefacts Village, Rural settlement Religious sites Place: Reculver Primary Subject: Church Interior other tags: Church (Ruined) Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
1:50,000 Modern Day Landranger(TM) Map © Crown Copyright
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TR2269, 297 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
Rob Farrow   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Monday, 31 May, 2010   (more nearby)
Submitted
Monday, 12 August, 2024
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TR 2275 6936 [10m precision]
WGS84: 51:22.7739N 1:11.9713E
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TR 2275 6935
View Direction
NORTH (about 0 degrees)
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SW S SE
Image Type (about): close look 
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