Welcome to Newchurch Church

Newchurch Church - Canterbury Diocese

Church Services at Newchurch - Click here for Services at Newchurch

Priest in Charge The Revd Jim Field

The Vicarage, North Street, New Romney TN28 8DR - Tel: 01797 362308 email: click here

Please telephone Jim for Baptisms, Weddings and Banns at Newchurch

or for any pastoral concern which you would like to discuss with him.

Churchwardens: Tony Day and Pamela Baxter
Organist: Jan Day
PCC Secretary: Jan Day
PCC Treasurer: Valerie Denby
Sacristans: Jan Day
Church keys: Jan Day
Magazine Editor & Advertising: Mike Worthington to email: click here
Web-site: Mike Worthington

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Read the brief guide to St Peter and St Paul, Newchurch, by scrolling down the page

A BRIEF GUIDE TO NEWCHURCH CHURCH

Three things strike you about the parish church of St. Peter and St. Paul, Newchurch: the size, so much larger than the average church on Romney Marsh; the leaning tower; and the fine peal of bells.

When you first walk into the church you get the impression of spaciousness; it is large and tall; the lancet windows in the chancel illustrate how the architect was striving for light and height in the Early English Gothic style.

The eastern end is divided into three main sections. The chancel and east window is where the main worship now takes place in the church. The whole of the church is used on rare occasions, such as large funerals, or for example on the installation of the rector when numerous local worthies are invited to welcome the new incumbent; or for Harvest Supper, a very successful day in the Newchurch calendar.

Looking towards the east, on either side of the chancel are additional chapels. The one on the left is perfectly plain and a reduced wooden screen separates it from the main body of the church. It is dedicated to St. Michael and St.Thomas of Canterbury, and at one time was used for the Sunday school. On one wall is a rough, plain piscina, matching the one at the North entrance to the church. It is in this chapel that the series of History Panels, recording the life and history of the village of Newchurch are exhibited. Documents and pictures charting the history of the village from as far back as the Domesday Book are on permanent display on behalf of Newchurch Parish Council.

The chapel on the right of the main chancel is the Lady Chapel, set up as a place of private prayer with a triptych of the Virgin Mary on the altar and a statue of the Virgin set in an ornate wall plinth, next to which is the remains of a simple aumbry. Fragmentary remains of mediaeval glass are in the window above the altar, worth looking at through binoculars, and the window on the South wall is unlike any other in the church being very ornate although of plain glass. The oak screen separating the chapel from the main body of the church is in better condition than the one on the left.

The chancel itself rises gradually by shallow steps to the altar under the East window. There are few brasses or memorials; one notes that the church was restored between 1909 and 1915 by the rector of the time, the Revd George Brocklehurst, M.A. and his wife Rose Mary. Other memorials are from the First World War: Arthur Henry Link, born April 17, 1888, killed in action at sea in 1917; and Frederick Charles Rogers, killed at Ypres in 1916, aged 25.The organ is believed to be from the 18th Century and the blower was given in memory of Edward John and Sarah Elizabeth Homewood, 1961. In 2005 a loudspeaker was added to the organ giving it increased power and volume; this was given in memory of Libby Baxter by her husband farmer Peter Baxter.

In 1997 cracks were noticed in the chancel walls; surveyors and architects agreed that the roof was pushing the walls outwards, and that a tie was needed across the chancel to hold them firm. This was installed in June 2002 and immediately an improvement was detected. It is possible that 200 years ago, when the stained glass East window was erected, a wooden beam similar to others in the chancel had been removed on the grounds that the new window was partially hidden from view

So why is Newchurch so different for example from Dymchurch and Burmarsh, the other churches in the Benefice? There are no traces of Norman work as may be found in the other parishes, and this church is roughly 100 years younger than them, although as Newchurch was mentioned in the Domesday book, it is thought that possibly a wooden Saxon church had been here on the site beforehand.

The answer is that it is thought that this church was built as a chantry about 1240, where monks could pray for the souls of their benefactors. The idea of giving money to a church, or for example, an altarpiece such as at Ghent, where the donors are depicted among other saints, and where prayers were said for the repose of their souls, was commonplace in the mediaeval period in particular by wealthy people who had no children. The three chancels would have been used for prayers, the monks paid for by money left for the purpose, and the rest of the building would have been mainly for the villagers and used as a village hall for a variety of purposes such as fairs and sales.

After the Reformation people learned to speak directly to God helped by the priest or rector, partly by exhortation from the pulpit. Here the pulpit was installed about 1600 and is of linenfold design. The font, which is towards the West end of the church, is eight-sided with decorations on several sides, the crossed keys of St. Peter, the sword of St. Paul, and three roses, two large roses of Yorkshire and Lancashire, and one Tudor rose, giving the impression that it was installed at the end of the Wars of the Roses or during the reign of Henry VII, the first of the Tudor Monarchs.

Elegant eighteenth century script can be seen on panels either side of the door into the vestry: the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer flank the Ten Commandments.

Facing the West Door, looking at the tower, one feels apprehensive at the angle of the pillars and arch as they lean away from the church. These were built in the fifteenth century and after subsidence the project was abandoned. When it became clear that the land had settled, the tower was continued straight up, so looking at it outside from the north, it is apparent that it curves outward and then goes straight up. Looking out from the top, one feels quite perilous, as if there is nothing underneath! There are six bells: the tenor, fifth, fourth and third date from 1637; the second was added in 1845; and the treble was made by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry in 1969. The bells are well used both by enthusiasts from the village, and by visiting teams.

From the outside, the West door appears peppered with shot, thought to be when Revenue Officers chased a smuggler, who then disappeared, falling into a newly-dug grave. Was Russell Thorndike inspired by such a tale?

A large old church in a small Marsh village means a great deal of work and fundraising for a dedicated few; they are to be commended.