West Door of Old St James the Apostle Church Ruins, Dover, Kent, UK

The church of Old St James the Apostle was destroyed during the Second World War and the ruins are now a memorial to the people of Dover who suffered both bombs and shell-fire between 1939 and 1945.

The houses behind the church are on Castle Hill Road that leads to Dover Castle.

A similar photo, taken in 2009 from a different angle, can be seen at West Door of Old St James the Apostle Church.

Click to see all photos of Old St James Church, a Dover Listed Building, and other Dover Churches.

Standard Info (from an information plaque inside the ruins):

St James' Church, known locally as 'the Tidy Ruin' was founded in Saxon times and is probably one of the Dover churches mentioned in the Domesday Book.

It was used not only as a Church but also by the Barons of the Cinque Ports for several of their official Courts until 1851. The Court of Shepway, the governing body of the Cinque Ports, met here under the Lord Warden, as did, from 1526, the Court of Lodemanage, the body which licensed Cinque Ports Pilots. The last meeting here took place in 1851 with the Duke of Wellington (1) presiding as Lord Warden.

By 1860 a larger Church was needed and with the opening of New St James' in 1862 the old Church fell into disuse for some years, until it was restored in 1869.

The church was virtually destroyed in the Second World War by German shells fired from France. The large front doors and the original Lord Wardens Bench were taken out and given to Dover Museum where they can still be seen. After the war, in 1948, the ruins of the church were not demolished but kept as a commemorative monument to the people of Dover who, like the church, suffered greatly from the bombs and long-range guns of the 1939-1945 War.

The White Horse Inn next door to the church is said to date back to about 1300, although most of the building visible today dates from the 18th Century.

St James’ Street, of which little now remains, ran from the Church to the Market Square. It was one of Dover's busiest thoroughfares and the main Stage Coach route until Castle Street was opened up into the Market Square.

(1) Wellington Dock is named after the Duke of Wellington, as is the swing-bridge (opened in 1846) between the dock and Tidal Harbour.

An Urban Dover and Dover History photo.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog: The Psychology of a Small Town

This is the Images of Dover website: click on any blue "John Latter" link to access the Entry Page.

The "Remains of St. James's Church" is a Grade II Listed Building (1).

The following is © Crown Copyright. Reproduced under the terms of the Click-Use Licence (PSI licence number C2010002016):

Building Details:

Building Name: REMAINS OF ST JAMES'S CHURCH Parish: DOVER District: DOVER County: KENT Postcode: CT16 1QG

Details:

LBS Number: 177821 Grade: II Date Listed: 30/06/1949 Date Delisted: NGR: TR3226141553

Listing Text:

In the entry for:-

TR 3241 WOOLCOMBER STREET (East side)

1/15 Remains of St James's Church

GV 30.6.49 II

the address shall be amended to read: CASTLE HILL ROAD

1/15 Remains of St James's Church

GV 30.6.49 II

WOOLCOMBER STREET l. (East Side) 1050 Remains of St James's Church TR 3241 1/15 30.6.49.

II GV

1. Originally a Norman building but restored in tile C19 (C19 = 19th Century). There is a Norman zigzag arch and the side elevation, built of flints, has a blocked entrance filled with Norman fragments. The rest of the church is of Caen stone, with stone quoins. There is a C14 addition on the South side of the Nave which was used until 1851 as a Court house for the Chancery and Admiralty Courts of the Cinque Ports, and for the Court of Lodemanage. The last Court of Lodemanage was held by the Duke of Wellington here in 1851. The seat and bench used by the Duke of Wellington and the Barons of the Cinque Ports have been transferred to St Mary’s Church. This building was not used as a church since the middle of the C19 when the garrison Church in the Castle was restored. The building was very badly damaged by shelling from the French coast during the last war. AM.

Remains of St. James Church and White Horse Inn form a group.

Listing NGR: TR3226141553

Source: English Heritage. Click to see photos of other English Heritage sites in the town of Dover, England.

(1) Grade II: buildings that are "nationally important and of special interest".

Also see:

Dover Civic War Memorial Remembrance Garden 2012

Also see:

Georgian engraving of Old St James Church by G W Bonner, Dover

A photo on the Pinterest Old Dover board.

Also on the Pinterest Old Dover board:

1844 Daguerreotype portrait of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington