ST. ANDREW'S WATERSIDE CHURCH MISSION AT GRAVESEND

This will form part of the national Heritage Open Days

Sense the calm beauty of this former seafarers' chapel nestled by the Thames in Gravesend. With stunning stained glass windows and a beautiful ceiling representing an upturned boat, it is a rare opportunity to see inside.

St. Andrews Church was built to serve Gravesend’s waterside community. In the mid-19th century, the river Thames, just off Gravesend, was alive with shipping vessels waiting to load cargoes or passengers and emigrants heading for Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. Smaller boats supplied the everyday needs of the larger ships, and the crews of these boats lived with their families and livestock on board a collection of hulks and old barges moored just offshore.  Rev Robinson wrote to a London church newspaper asking for donations to help build a mission hall, and the daughter of Rear Admiral Francis Beaufort KBE responded. Donations also came from townsfolk, including Charles Dickens. On St Peter's day, 1870, the foundation stone was laid and the church was finished and consecrated on St Andrew's Day in 1871. (DiscoverGravesham.co.uk)

The church has an original working organ built by J Halmshaw and Sons, Birmingham. There are some historically significant plaques, including to the crew of the doomed Sir John Franklin expedition, the last Marahaja of the Punjab, Duleep Singh and Sir Francis Beaufort.  Besides Charles Dickens, other famous literary connections include John Keats leaving for Italy, Benjamin Franklin's diary and the opening of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

OPEN (closing times vary)

Friday 8 September: 11am - 6pm 

Saturday 9 September: 11am - 6pm 

Sunday 10 September: 11am - 6pm 

Monday 11 September: CLOSED 

Tuesday 12 September: 11am - 6pm 

Wednesday 13 September: 11am - 11pm 

Thursday 14 September: 11am - 6pm 

Friday 15 September: 11am - 11pm 

Saturday 16 September: 11am - 11pm 

Sunday 17 September: 11am - 6pm