Today’s image for Day 325 of the VM_365 project shows the parish church of St Peter the Apostle which is located in the vilage of St Peter’s, Broadstairs. Like the parish church of St John the Baptist, Margate which featured on Day 324 of the VM_365 project, this was originally a chapel to the mother church at Minster before becoming a parish church in its own right in the 13th century.

This church was constructed in the 12th century and was originally much smaller consisting of a chancel, nave and a south aisle with at least two bays. The original Norman arcade of mid 12th century date still survives. The church was extended with the addition of a north and south aisle in the late 12th century. The existing north chancel arcade may be of early 13th century date.

In the 14th century the Norman aisles were widened and the north west tower with its crenellations and gargoyles was added in the early 15th century.

Interestingly the church tower was used as a signalling station in Napoleonic times due to its then highly visible location and it still has the right to fly the White Ensign.

Like our other parish churches on Thanet, this church was heavily restored in the mid 19th century.

References/Further Reading

Berg, M. and Jones, H.  2009. Norman Churches in the Canterbury Diocese. The History Press.

Historic England 2015. The National Heritage List for Britain: The Parish Church of St Peter the Apostle. List entry no. 1273791. http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1273791&searchtype=mapsearch

St Peter in Thanet. 2015. A Brief History of the Church. http://www.stpeterinthanet.org.uk/aboutus.htm