St Mary's Church, Sevington
We drive past this church every single day and have done for the last 2 years, and while we've admired its beauty from afar we've never stopped to truly take it in. Until now that is.
We were on our way back from Western Heights just this weekend gone, and there was still plenty of time in the day and enough energy left in us for a quiet exploration round the tiny church. So we parked up and went in and was surprised at what we found.
St Mary's Church of Sevington, Ashford, dates back to the 13th century, however it does have the odd medieval touch to it. We can't seem to find much history on this church, but we do know that it was mentioned in Niklaus Pevsner's book 'The Historic Buildings of England'. It's mentioned as 'lonely and a little forlorn' but we think this, unfortunately, is a spot on way to sum up the church. Locals hold their own service at this church every other week on a Sunday, and without them the site would have no doubt blended quietly in with what's left of the farmland surrounding it, sad and hidden by the ever increasing modernity threatening to take over.
What surprised us was that this church was left open. A sign left for those seeking peace and quiet, they'll find it within these doors, and we did. We took it in turns as we didn't want to disturb the silence with Yogi in tow.
Within those old wooden doors was a beautiful space, granted it is in some need of TLC, but this is the musty remnants of an old village church which predates and endures the busy bypass that now cuts off its congregation and other visitors.
There's decorations painstakingly painted on the wall. Religious quotes in eyeline, pews set up neatly for the weary traveller hoping to sit and pray. Don't let the eerie silence fool you, despite there being no one in sight the church has a warm and welcoming inside, even if it has seen better days.
There's donation spots, a pot for prayers, and battery operated tealights for those who wish to light a candle for someone in their thoughts (which we think is clever as we assume someone comes back to close the site at 6 so there is no unmanned naked flame).
We respectfully wandered the tiny graveyard with markers which had seen better days, but this little run down church is the one out of all the ones we've seen which has encouraged us to consider becoming a Friend of Kent Churches. We need to preserve these historical sites, as there arent many left, and while we wouldn't consider ourselves overly religious, we still respect the buildings.
There's a haunted atmosphere here, probably something to do with the fact the church is so isolated and yet you can hear the bypass the otherside of the hedge. It didn't do it any favours the fact there was no one there and the musty smell welcomed you once you stepped within, but it was comforting. The graves have seen better days, but considering this church is run by members of the community and you've got building works closing in for various modern expansions, its no surprise eco maintenance is at the back of anyones mind. The site has a lack of funding issue as does most old and isolated churches these days, so it is falling down a bit, but we didn't see any ghosts. What we found was a welcoming church to two strangers and their dog, and long may it remain.
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