Category Archives: Historic

This weekend yet again I attempted to capture an elusive shot that I have been trying to bag for sometime, but as of yet the little blighter is still managing to run free and escape my digital prison.

You may remember that I have been trying to capture a shot of a wreck that is situated off the coast of Camber, now getting a shot of the wreck is simple enough but getting a shot that actually stands out from the crowd and warrants all the effort is another this.

So this weekend it was off to the coast with fellow Photographer Tony Hamilton to see what we could see, as before I had already calculated that we would be there on the lowest tide and that tide coincided with sunrise, however the weather was not being nice the night before, we arrived at the location only to find that the previous night weather was still hanging round and the whole area was banked in cloud, in the distance heavy rainclouds could be seen that looked to be moving our way.

We had a look at the wreck and took a few shots, however none of the shots were any thing to get excited about so our attention drifted onto a group of kite surfers that were braving the weather and darting about in the 35mph winds.

Whilst standing there not really doing much I thought about were we were the previous night, at Fairfield Church, the weather was just as bad but I knew I had managed to bag the shot I was after. With that in mind I mentally started to compile this post whilst being battered by the driving wind.

Below is a set of images of Fairfield Church I have taken over several years and a little bit of history about this quaint little church that is stranded in the middle of a field with nothing but swan and sheep for company.

Click Image to see Larger Version.

Fairfield lies between Brookland and Brenzett on a minor road in a deserted part of the Walland Marsh.

The area was won from the sea (inned) sometime between 1200 and 1270. The monks from Canterbury built dykes to the western edge of the Rhee Wall (the sea defenses built by the Romans) and enclosed the land so reclaiming the rich and fertile soil from the sea.

1287 saw the great storm in which Broomhill was swept away and New Romney barely survived. The Rother changed its course to the sea, and exited the marshes at Rye, whereas before the storm the river found its way to the sea near to modern day Greatstone and Littlestone .

Fayrefelde existed before 1595 as a map of the time shows the village approximately where the church now sits. It is likely that as the land became more reclaimed so the village sprung up.

Nowadays all that can be seen is the church lying down from the road embankment which is probably the original inning wall. The church was built as a temporary structure of timber lath and plaster in the 1200′s to support the local farming community. The exterior has been strengthened with brick, and in 1913 the whole building was reconstructed and encased to preserve it.

St Thomas a Beckett at  Fairfield is one of those churches supported by the Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust .