Just a simple Landscape type Fujigraph taken at Fairfield Kent UK of the tiny St Thomas a Becket Church.
St Thomas à Becket Church in Fairfield stands alone in a field on the Marsh, surrounded by water courses and sheep. A causeway was built in 1913, and until then the church was more often than not surrounded by water during the winter and spring.
Fairfield, the village it once served has long since disappeared, but the church has survived and is now part of a parish which includes the villages of Brookland, Brenzett and Snargate. The church is dedicated to St Thomas à Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 until his murder in 1170.
Legend has it that the Archbishop was journeying across the dangerous Romney Marsh, when he fell into one of the many ditches. He prayed to St.Thomas, as he came up for the second time, for a miracle to save him from a watery death. Just in time a farmer arrived to save him, and in gratitude the Archbishop had the little church built and dedicated to St Thomas a Becket.
Sometime around AD 1200 a simple structure of timber and lath construction was built as a purely temporary measure to provide the local farmers with a place of worship. Temporary became permanent, and the 13th century building survived intact until the 18th century, when the entire timber building was encased within brick walls, and the roof covered with heavy red tiles.
In 1912 the fabric was in a very poor state and a complete rebuilding within the timber framework took place. However, the inside of the church was, fortunately, left untouched. It is Georgian, with a three decker pulpit, box pews and texts boards. The pews are still painted white with black linings.
The interior is pure Georgian theatrics; entering the church is like stepping back into the 18th century. The interior is filled with rows of box pews, painted bright white, with a triple-decker pulpit rising over them and Biblical texts staring down from the walls.
X-T2, 60mm F2.4 Lens, 1/1700th @ F5.6, ISO-200, Tripod.
St Thomas à Becket Church (Fairfield) (1)-03247 by
G.K.Jnr., on Flickr
for looking.,
George.