This is a very impressive book

Where did you get it

I have owned it for a number of years

It dates from 1877

The lifetimes work of its author

Do you visit these churches

Some of them

What about our local churches

Not all of them are in my book

Or at least recorded

Is the little church you visited last summer

Mentioned in your book

The church where Wellington once worshipped

Yes

It is mentioned at length

Which is incredibly fascinating

The detail is extraordinary

I am reading a description of this church

Written just under one hundred and fifty years ago


Has there been much change

Yes and no

At the time of writing this church

Was becoming too small for its congregation

A new church was considered and was later built

And to a great extent the smaller church was abandoned

It was I believe used for storage and other tasks

Wellingtons church was just left to its own fate


Was it ever used again

Strangely enough yes

But it took a war

To enable this change

The new church was built in the 1880’s

And proved to be a suitable replacement

But it was very exposed as it was near to the sea

And would have been the likely target

For enemy bombers

This was the reason that it was evacuated

And the smaller church used


It was only used for the duration

And when the war ended

The bigger church was reopened

What I find interesting is that Wellingtons church

Had acted like a time capsule

It had missed the restorations

So common during Victorian times

And had remained untouched

Since the day it closed its doors


What did you see during your visit

That even in the last eighty or so years

Not much had changed if anything at all

Even the gas brackets now disused

Still hung from the wall

If any changes had taken place

Then these had taken place during Wellingtons time

I was probably walking in the dust of Victorian’s


Where is your church Joe

It is between Deal and Dover

In a small town called Walmer

Although it is known to some

As Gentle Walmer

Which I think is rather apt