Unitarian Church Listed Building at Sunrise, Adrian Street, Dover, Kent, UK

A post-sunrise view of the octagonal Georgian (1) Unitarian Church on Adrian Street seen from the A256 York Street central reservation at 6.53 am on Monday, 29th of August, 2011 (2):


(Click this Unitarian Church text link to see the largest size)

The A256 dual carraigeway runs between York Street roundabout to the left, and the Folkestone Road roundabout (fronted on the east by the Dovorian Restaurant and the Golden Lion pub) to the right. Ye Olde Bicycle in the bottom right-hand corner is mine!

Behind the church on the left are part of the Western Heights hills (below the Drop Redoubt and above Cowgate Cemetery).

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Abridged from the Dover Unitarian Church website (3)

The Unitarian & Free Christian Church in Dover has been Unitarian since 1828. Freedom of belief and the form of worship was unanimously agreed by the membership in 1916 and this liberal tradition is upheld today.

We meet as a group of friends seeking truth, freedom and tolerance in rational worship and fellowship on the first and third Sunday of every month at 3pm.

Dover Castle Keep

The Church was founded in 1643 by a dissenting group who refused to subscribe to unreasonable beliefs. They were persecuted and some were imprisoned in Dover Castle.

In the early 1800's these 'General Baptists' became Unitarian (asserting the Oneness of God). They questioned belief in a Trinity and considered the religion of Jesus (Love God and your neighbour) more important than a religion about Jesus. They rejected Original Sin, the Virgin Birth, and the condemnation of non-believers.

The first Sunday school in the town of Dover opened at this church in 1803. The present Chapel, built in 1820, is a grade II Listed building and participates each year in Heritage Open Days.

Victorian Chancel of St. Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Church of England, Dover, Kent, UK

Dover's Church of St Mary the Virgin from the east showing the Chancel/Apse and surrounding graveyard:


(Click this St Mary's Church text link to see the largest size)

St. Mary the Virgin is Church of England and located in Cannon Street (ex Canon Street), Dover. It is a Norman church built between 1066 and 1086 and then restored in Victorian times, 1843-1844.

St Mary's was probably built on the site of a Saxon church, but was certainly built on top of an even earlier Roman structure.

The 'Lady Chapel' is in the right-hand aisle, the Organ in the left. The graveyard (churchyard, cemetery) was closed for burials in 1854.

St Mary's Passage runs along the south side of the church (to the left) and Dieu Stone Lane along the north side (to the right). The photo was taken from Church Street.

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Excerpt from the "History of St Mary's Church" (1)

The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin has shared to the full in both the spiritual and civic life of the ancient town and port of Dover. It is situated in the centre of the town in the main street (Cannon Street) and close by the old Market Square, for centuries the hub of activity, and still at the centre of the town's life. The Church has been increased in size three times, and excavations under the floor near the font have shown that it is built on the site of Roman baths.