St Mary Magdalene's Church

The front of St Mary Magdalene Church.

St Mary Magdalene Church from the graveyard.

Description

This Norman Church is where Will Adams (The first Westerner to visit Japan) was christened on 24th September 1564. Although it's still an operating church, as seems to be the trend it has had most of its cemetery converted to a children's playground and a housing estate for the elderly.

View across the graveyard including the tomb of members of the Featherby family. Other local figures linked to the church are the Featherby family, of whom John Robert Featherby was the first mayor of the Borough of Gillingham in 1901. Their tomb, marked by a tall grey stone on a covering stone which is now missing its original railings, is near the middle of the churchyard, and can be seen on the left of this picture:

Visit this page for more detailed photographs and details of the inscriptions.

View across the graveyard including the tomb of Sir William Pearce, Baronet. The churchyard also contains the tomb of Sir William Pearce, Baronet, and his family. Theirs is the pink granite tomb just to the right of the centre of this photograph:

Although most of the graves have been cleared away, many are still standing. The following are a selection of photographs of some of the more distinctive gravestones and tombs in the churchyard.

Large tomb in St Mary's Churchyard

Tomb at the front of the church.

Tomb at the side of the church, showing old people's bungalows on what was previously more of the graveyard.

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