Trinity Church Deal (Methodist & United Reformed)
is on the north-east corner of West Street and Union Road in Lower
Deal. The Methodists built a grand church here in the nineteenth
century, and the Wesley Hall was erected behind it (on the right
here). In the late twentieth century, the present modern structure replaced
the old building and the Methodist school buildings were converted into luxury
flats. The Congregationalists (URC) merged with the Methodists by
the 1970s.
Linden Hall (Brethren) is a converted cottage
of the typical workers type which is located on the northern side of
St George's Road, the fourth door from West Street. It is not known
whether this Brethren group is Open or Exclusive Brethren. The former
takes the line that all meetings are independent units which anyone can
join, while the latter hold a more zealous view regarding worship and
membership, something which led to a doctrinal split in 1881.
The Salvation Army can be found on the western
side of the aptly-named West Street, opposite Stanhope Road. The memorial
stones for the building were laid on 29 October 1910, the second of those
being in honour of Miss H E Bristow. Veteran musician George Neeve grew
up in Deal, learning to play the trombone with the Army from the age of
six, and only moved to Canterbury to join their band and work in the city
in 1952.
The Catholic Church of St Thomas of Canterbury
lies on the eastern side of Blenheim Road, midway between Beaconsfield Road
and Wellington Road, south of the High Street area of Lower Deal. The
Duke Street Mission Chapel was founded in Deal in 1847 to serve the
needs of Catholic sailors. Father James Scratton was appointed to the
mission in 1869 and for the following fifteen years devoted himself to
collecting funds for the erection of a permanent church.
Land in Blenheim Road was purchased, and the work on
the foundations of the new mission were commenced in January 1885. The
blessing of the church's foundation stone took place on 16 February 1885,
and the church, built in the late Norman style, was formally opened on
29 December 1885. In 1890 the Visitation Chapel of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus was completed, and was given to the parish in 1971. In 1926 the
mission was raised to the status of a parish.
Victoria Baptist Church occupies the
south-east corner of Victoria Road and Stanley Road, to the east of
the Catholic church. It was built to serve Victoria Town, which grew
up in the 1860s on the site of the old Deal Naval Dockyard.
Victoria Road (originally Prospect Place), once formed the western
boundary of the naval yard, which closed in 1863. Luxury villas were
put up and the foundation stones for the church were laid on 13
January 1881.
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