St. Mildred's Church

Saint Mildred’s Church, Acol.

The piece of land containing 47 perches for the site of the School Church was given to the vicar and churchwardens for the parish of Birchington with Acol in 1875 by a Mrs Charlotte Rogers, a widow who once resided at Minster but at that time was residing at Nice in the south of France. The building was designed in the Gothic style of architecture by a Mr C N Beasley of Westgate and built by a Mr L Shrubsole of Faversham at a cost of about £790. The foundation stone was laid on 18 April 1876 by the Dean of Canterbury. The new School Church was formally opened on 5 October 1876 by the Bishop of Dover. It’s constructed of an inside stock brick walling faced externally with stone quoins, stone pilasters and stone buttresses. The panels between the stonework are filled with flint. In 1967, the church was in grave danger of collapse. There was serious movement in most of the building and a number of cracks showed this movement. The church was repaired by the putting in of foundations at a cost of nearly £1,200.

A perch was 16.5 feet (discontinued as a unit of measurement in the UK in 1963). 47 (square) perches would have been about 1,420 square yards.