Sailor’s Church, Ramsgate

Sailor’s Church, Ramsgate

Down by the harbour there is a very unusual little church. It was built as both a Church and as the Sailor’s Home and Harbour Mission, being opened on 8th July 1878. Part of the building was used as a hostel for ‘Smack Boys’ who were employed in the fishing fleet. It also took in the survivors of shipwrecks. The guide book tells some of these stories and some 3,300 ship wrecked mariners were cared for at no charge. Evening services are held here during the summer months.

The church is open every day and is beautifully cared for and is open every day with a good welcome sign outside and inside. There is a ‘Brown sign’ pointing to the church from the road.

Inside, there is no visitors book but there is a good guide book, ‘The Jesus Book – extracts from ‘Our Daily Bread’ and some welcome leaflets in English, Dutch, French and German. A Bible is left open which is always good to see. It shows a living church that is being used for what it was built for. We can  be too tidy!

Also, there is a small museum of model ships and historical information. It is well done. Somewhere to leave some prayers would be good but I do rate this little church as good for this study. It comes under Christchurch, Ramsgate and the website is at http://www.christchurchramsgate.co.uk There is a bit of information about the Sailor’s Church but no visitors information as such.

Note the Port and Starboard lights !