History
220+
Years of faith,
history and legacy
We stand on the shoulders of those that have been before us. The history of our parish extends back over 220 years.
On March 1st 2012, the parish of Ss Austin & Gregory formally merged with the parish of St Anne. Thus bringing together two magnificent church buildings and two wonderful communities.
The historic Ss Austin and Gregory’s church in Margate played a key role in the nineteenth-century Catholic revival and has deep ties with the Ramsgate Benedictines and the Gillow family. Richard Gillow, an architect from a prominent Lancashire family, purchased the land in 1793, establishing a small chapel in 1803. Over the years, the Benedictines extensively remodeled and expanded the church, drawing on the talents of E. W. Pugin and Pugin & Pugin, notable architects who added Gothic features and enlarged the building.
Key additions include a school in 1863, a Lady Chapel in 1866, and an updated tower and sanctuary in the 1890s. Significant enhancements continued under Fr. Sigebert Saunders, who added the St. Joseph Chapel, a new presbytery, and expanded seating capacity. In the 1960s, the church was transferred to the diocese, and the south aisle was converted into a parish hall. The church’s exterior features yellow brick with blue accents, timber windows, and a Gothic-style northwest tower.
Inside, the church has plastered and painted walls, a wooden floor, and galleries on the west and north sides. The nave has distinctive architectural features, including a king-post roof and decorative arches. The sanctuary contains a stone screen and Gothic windows, with notable features like the high altar, a Lady Chapel with an ornate reredos, and a stained-glass window by John Trinick, donated by singer John McCormack.
It is a Roman Catholic parish within the Archdiocese of Southwark and part of the Thanet Deanery. A more detailed insight taken from the bi-centenary celebration handbook can be downloaded HERE.
St. Anne’s church, built in 1926, was designed in a Gothic style, featuring the first four western bays of the nave and north and south aisles. Its walls are faced with local Bargate stone and accented with Weldon stone tracery around the windows. The slate roof of the nave continues over the east end of the church, which was added in the 1960s. This newer section includes a small bell tower and uses yellow stock brick, distinguishing it from the original structure. The west gable has two tall, two-light windows with decorative tracery, while the main entrance is marked by a large four-light window with Gothic detailing.
Inside, the original nave has three bays on each side with wide arches supported by stone piers, leading up to a beautiful timber hammerbeam roof. The older western aisles feature timber lean-to roofs with semi-arches, while the eastern addition has a simpler ceiling with ribbing. The church is clear-glazed, and seating consists mostly of individual wooden chairs. Notable features include a large octagonal stone pulpit with carved details and a nineteenth-century altar in the Lady Chapel. Modern furnishings mark the sanctuary, and an ironwork screen at the west end completes the church’s mix of historical and modern elements.
