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Churches of the British Isles

Gallery: Churches of Kent

by Peter Kessler, 21 November 2010

Medway Part 7: Churches of Frindsbury

All Saints Church, Frindsbury, Kent

All Saints Church Frindsbury faces out over the eastern end of Church Lane in Frindsbury, but its southern flank (shown here), close to the chalk cliffs which were created by quarrying, commands an impressive view over the whole of Strood and Rochester. At various times in its history Frindsbury has been considered fully or partially part of the City of Rochester. Its name comes from the Old English 'freodesburh', meaning a stronghold held by a friend or ally.

All Saints Church, Frindsbury, Kent

The church was built in a mixture of Caen Stone and flint, probably from 1074. It was rebuilt in the Early English style in 1127. More work was carried out in the fourteenth century and again in 1407. During the Reformation the decorations were removed or whitewashed. The bells were rehung in 1672, and wall paintings of St Lawrence, St Edmund of Canterbury, and St William of Perth were discovered in 1883, during the start of extensive restoration work in 1884.

Frindsbury Baptist Church, Frindsbury, Kent

Frindsbury Baptist Church is on the west side of Cooling Road, one door north of the junction with Hilltop Road. Baptists in Frindsbury began meeting at the windmill on Bill Street, probably during the great expansion of the region in the late 1910s. The church was founded in the 1920s, and the windmill, which stood in the cleft formed by the junction of Bill Street and Powlett Road, soon became derelict. It was demolished about 1930, although the mill house survives.

All photos on this page by P L Kessler.

 

 

     
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