Get to know: All Saints' Church, West Stourmouth

On the second Monday of each month, we welcome members' of CCT to an exclusive lecture. Each lecture starts with a brief exploration of the historical and architectural highlights of one of the churches in our care. Today we are revisiting the true stories shared by host Victoria Jenner about how smuggling has impacted one of our CCT churches in Kent. These stories introduced Dr Jo Esra's inspiring lecture "Cornish Smuggling: Organised Crime of Radical Romance? The 'free trade' during the 18th and 19th centuries" in February 2025. 

To become a member of CCT and enjoy access to exclusive monthly lectures and recordings of past lectures on CCTDigital from just £3.50 a month, sign up here on our website. Alternatively, email, supporters@thecct.org.uk, for more information.

All Saint's Church in West Stourmoth, Canterbury, is a picture-postcard church that stands hidden by trees in a delightful setting by the Little Stour. As you approach, the first thing you notice is the small spire and bell tower, followed by the beautiful flint, ragstone, and brickwork of the church.

There is strong evidence of Saxon origins, incorporating Roman bricks in its walls. The church was damaged in an earthquake in 1382 and subsequently rebuilt. The building is simple, made of ragstone, flint, and brick, with a nave, chancel, south aisle, and a small wooden bell tower. Inside, the church is furnished with box pews, some featuring exquisite carvings, a seventeenth-century pulpit, and a handsome organ that still bears its original pumping lever. The attractive tiled flooring also contains three intriguing memorial stones.

Situated in Stourmouth, this church is part of an area that has a long and layered history. Stourmouth itself is a rural farming parish, rich in crops and orchards, but historically, it was also shaped by its waterways.

The nearby River Stour (known to the Romans as Sturius) once connected with the Wantsume Channel, which, until around 1500, separated the Isle of Thanet from the mainland. This river network made the area ideal for smuggling operations. Ferries ran across the estuary, and hidden landing points offered opportunities for illicit trade.

The gently curving coastline between Romney Marsh and the Isle of Thanet was well-supplied with shingle or sand beaches, making it easy to draw up boats unnoticed. This entire area had been steeped in smuggling since the early days of the wool trade, long before import smuggling became widespread.

The exterior of the church boasts fine flintwork and even includes Roman bricks incorporated into repairs over the centuries. Its peaceful setting, surrounded by farmland and close to the river, belies the dramatic history that unfolded in the area. The church features a 15th-century porch with its original door.

Beside the entrance is a worn 13th-century coffin lid, while on the inner face of the doorway is a royal coat of arms from the reign of George III in a peculiar pyramidal frame. To the west of the door stands the octagonal font, likely Victorian or a recut earlier piece.

Smugglers and their networks would have passed by this church, perhaps using the landscape to their advantage. Like many isolated churches in Kent, it may have served as a meeting point or a place to store contraband before it was transported inland.

Nearby, the town of Deal became infamous for smuggling in the 18th century. Smugglers there were so numerous that the British government sent troops to destroy all the town’s boats in 1785. Despite this, smuggling persisted, with goods often spirited away into underground tunnels or hidden compartments in buildings.

Stepping inside the church, we see the wooden box pews and pulpit, characteristic of centuries of parish worship. The memorial brass to Reverend Thomas Mareys (who died in 1472) reminds us of the long history of this place.

Another notable memorial is that of Thomas Beake, whose inscription describes him as “chearfull, and obliging...a sweet temper’d virtuous Man.” We may wonder what he thought of the smuggling trade happening around him.

During the height of the smuggling trade, it was not uncommon for communities, including church congregations, to be deeply involved in illicit activities. Some local churches were even rumoured to have been used for hiding contraband, with tunnels linking them to smuggling hideouts.

The richly carved pews at the west end of the church are notable, particularly the 19th-century examples featuring papier-mâché friezes and bosses, so well done that they are difficult to distinguish from the original wood. Thick timber beams, inserted in the 14th century, support the weight of the bell tower above, while a blocked Saxon window remains the only original window in the church.

On the north-west nave arcade is a peculiar monument to Carr Culmer, whose date of death appears as 10 January 1835—100 years and 9 days after his birth. However, due to the calendar adjustment in 1752, he was technically just two days short of a century!

The chancel features a series of 18th-century text boards with Biblical verses and a cut-down 15th-century wooden screen. A beautifully preserved Jacobean pulpit adds to the historical atmosphere. The south chancel window showcases fragments of medieval glass, gathered by James Powell & Son, who also designed the colourful east window in 1846.

Stourmouth was a key location in Kent’s smuggling past. The infamous North Kent Gang operated in this region during the early 19th century. These smugglers were not the romanticised figures of literature but well-organised criminals who would not hesitate to use violence to protect their trade.

One of their key crossing points was Pluck’s Gutter, where the notorious gang transported goods across the river. In the early 1800s, they used it to smuggle brandy, tobacco, and other contraband, sometimes in full view of the authorities.

The nearby Dog & Duck Inn, established by 1913, still bears the name of F.A. White’s Stourmouth Brewery, which was known for supplying local pubs. White’s brewery was heavily involved in the beer trade, but some of these operations blurred into smuggling networks, with beer barrels sometimes hiding illicit goods.

Further along the coast, in Dover, smugglers clashed violently with authorities. In 1826, an attempt to land goods on the beach resulted in a firefight that left one blockade officer dead. The leader of the gang, George Ransley, was eventually captured and transported to Tasmania.