Church of St Mary the Virgin, St Thomas and All Saints, Foulness (EHER 34983)

Parish Church built in around 1853. It stands on the site of a chapel re-established in 1386, and a later timber framed church.

January 1988. Grade II listed. A parish church built in around 1853 by William Hambley in Early English style. It was built on the site of an earlier chapel, said to have been re-established by Lady Joan de Bohun in 1386, and a later timber framed church. The present church is built from Kentish ragstone with stone dressings. It has three steeply pitched grey slate roofs, a south tower with porch, Chancel, nave and aisles and north vestry. <1> See photos <2>. A chapel was first erected on the site in 1386 by Lady Joan de Bohun, Countess of Essex, for the benefit of the small number of inhabitants of the island. There was no endowment, and the chaplain rarely visited, so Lady Joan founded a chantry in 1408, so that the priest could perform all offices for the inhabitants. The exact location of the chapel is unknown but it was somewhere within the confines of the present churchyard, as in 1545 it was demolished when the chantry was dissolved. A new timber-framed church was erected on the site, following the dissolution of the cemetery. Little is known of the construction of the first church of St. Mary, except that it was timber built and had a spire with a vestry below it, in which there was a fireplace (the smoke escaping through a hole in the top of the spire). It was a small building, measuring 40ft. in length and 20ft. in width. Demolished in 1850 and replaced with the present church. <3> <4> St Mary's church, rebuilt 1850 on earlier site. <5> <6> External view of St Marys looking south-west. <7> Site Management: Planning application to increase size of churchyard-watching brief recommended. Active churchyard. NRHE data transfer: Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin, St Thomas and All Saints. It was built 1850 (4), circa 1853 (3) on the site of a chapel re-established by Lady Joan de Bohun in 1386, and a later timber framed church. The building is constructed in Early English style of Kentish ragstone with stone dressings and has three steeply pitched grey slate roofs; there is a south tower with porch. Trinity House donated money for the building the church with the provision that the steeple should be high enough to act as a landmark for navigation. Listed Grade II. <1> <8> See also <9>.