The church with its steeple built next door

On the Kent-East Sussex border, a village church stands as one of the most unconventional pieces of religious architecture in the country.

In one of the most curious architectural designs of the 13th Century, St Augustine's Church in Brookland, on the Romney Marsh, sits with its steeple sitting next door rather than atop the building.

While the design may have its practical purposes, the building has inspired all manner of stories and folklore about how the steeple came to fall to the ground.

Shuna Body, vicar at the church, said: "A fun one I like is that a builder was told to build a church and a steeple, and so that's what he did."

Body added: "Quite often I sit in the church and look at the walls and think, 'if only they could tell us their stories'.

"I heard of someone who was on a visit to Australia, and they saw a picture of the church in a pub."

Despite further fairytales that a giant knocked the steeple from the roof, the reason for it being built at ground level is far more practical.

Some think the decision was made because the marsh could not cope with the steeple on top of the church, while more locally it is thought that the building could have also been used as a flood warning.

Inside the steeple, its function remains the same. Once upon a time five bells rang out, but in 1973, one was sent away and melted down to increase the number to six.

Kenneth Abury, who has rung the bells at the church for decades, said that despite the character of the church, he lamented that fewer bell ringers were coming through the ranks to pick up the mantle.

"It's disappointing there's no youngsters coming into the art of bell ringing," he said.

"You wonder where it will go in the years to come."

Despite the apprehension, the bells still ring loud today, and its quirky design stands as a unique interpretation of how to build a church.

Recognisable across the world, the folklore behind the building has turned it into an enduring example of interesting religious architecture.

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