Churches of the British Isles

Having been built for the 'accommodation of pilgrims and travellers where they might be furnished with lodgings, provisions, and other necessaries...', the hospital survived the Dissolution. By this time it had changed to almshouses for sixteen brothers or sisters. St Thomas Hospital in Sandwich did not survive, but its almshouses did (see 'related links'). Here, sixteen cottages surround the chapel to this day, in 1837 housing a master and sixteen brothers and sisters.

The Church of St Peter & St Paul, Worth, sits at the south-west corner of the junction between The Street and Jubilee Road. The pillars on the south side of the nave are Norman, dating from the 1000s and 1100s. Worth was not considered large enough for a parish church so the original structure was built as a chapel-of-ease under Eastry church (see 'related links'). The structure is flint and rubble with a ragstone chancel, plain tiled roof, and shingled spire.

The 'North Chapel' was originally known as the 'Requiem Chapel' or 'All Souls Chapel', added during the 1300s. An independent parish was formed in 1845. The building underwent substantial restoration in 1888. This involved work to the chancel (probably to extend it to accommodate the choir stalls), the roof, and a rebuilding of the bell tower to replace the old tower. The westernmost pillar is the largest. This would have supported the corner of the original tower.

Worth Quaker Burial Ground is now lost. Quakerism arrived in Kent in 1655. Meeting houses were established in Kent towns from the 1670s, unlike the burial grounds, which usually had been established earlier and in rural areas, and which served wider areas. Local Quaker history suggests that in 1692 the burial ground at Worth could be sold, suggesting disuse (and possibly that it had never been used, only that land had been held in the expectation of a local meeting).

Worth Free Church is on the eastern side of the Deal Road, the second structure to the south of the Coventon bridleway junction when heading north from Worth towards the Deal roundabout. The church did not exist in 1900 but was present by the 1930s, with a Sunday school to the rear. A nonconformist free church, charity records suggest it closed in 2015. Even by 2026, however, the building appeared to be well-cared and in some use, although no details were available.

All photos on this page by P L Kessler & M Kessler in 2010 & 2025.