Kent Past
The History of Kent
Copyright Kent Past 2010
Saint Mary the Virgin -
The Parish Church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin has shared to the full in both
the spiritual and civic life of the ancient town and port of Dover. It is situated
in the centre of the town in the main street (Cannon Street) and close the old Market
Square, for centuries the hub of activity, and still at the centre of the town's
life. The Church has been increased in size three times, and excavations under the
floor near the font have shown that it is built on the site of Roman baths.
The first
tiny Saxon Church of St Mary was built by the Secular Canons of Dover, twenty-
In
697AD, King Withred built them a Church and Monastery of St Martin, near the site
of the present Market Square. To take services at St Marys they would walk from St
Martins by way of the present main street, which thus became known as Canon Street
(now spelt Cannon Street). We do not know when the Saxon Church was built, but it
was destroyed by the Normans in the Fire of Dover in 1066. The present Church is
mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, so it must have been built before then, but
the exact date is unknown.
St Marys is one of three Dover churches mentioned in the
Domesday Book, the others being St James and St Peter, and the amount of the annual
payment to the Canons of St Martins was 38/8d. As St Marys paid the largest part
of this sum, it seems likely that it was the most important of the three.
In the 16th
Century, after the Dissolution of Religious Houses, St Marys was given to the people
of Dover by King Henry VIII, a frequent visitor to this town and church. The Rev
John Reading, Vicar in the 17th Century, was imprisoned as a Royalist during the
Civil War, and his place was taken by five succeeding ministers, who were known as
the intruders. At the Restoration John Reading was reinstated, as Vicar, and it was
he who, along with the Mayor and Corporation, met King Charles II and presented him
with a Bible when His Majesty landed at Dover.
In 1843-
During the Second World War Dover was
a Naval base, and many Navy personnel worshipped regularly in St Marys. The Church
suffered considerable damage owing to enemy action, but miraculously was not directly
hit. On leaving Dover the Navy made a gift that there might be some mark of their
having used the Church during the War. With that gift and money from the War Damage
Commission, the Seafarers' Window was installed in 1958, with badges of various seafaring
organisations including the Royal and Merchant Navies and the Royal Dutch Navy, and
carrying the dedication 'To the Glory of God, and to commemorate all those who sailed
from this Port in the Second World War, especially those who gave their lives in
the service of their King and Country'.
1961 saw the first visit to the Dover Deanery
of the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Michael Ramsey and in 1980 Her Majesty Queen
Elizabeth the Queen Mother, dedicated a memorial window to the Air Sea Rescue servicemen.
In 1987, the Church sprang to international prominence when it was the venue for
the Memorial Service to those who died in the tragic sinking of the Herald of Free
Enterprise car ferry off the coast of Belgium. On the evening of 6th March, the ship
had set sail for Dover and capsized shortly after leaving the port of Zeebrugge,
with the loss of 193 lives. At the service, the church was packed with friends and
relatives of those who died, many of whom still make an annual visit to the church,
which is kept open on the anniversary of the tragedy for them to pay their respects.
The Herald Memorial Window provides a focal point and a quiet area for prayer and
remembrance.
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