The Church today

The usual Sunday services are at 9 a.m. Holy Communion (Common Worship) on the First and Third Sunday of the month.

There are other services and events such as the 'St Rumwold Lectures' held in July , a series of four evening lectures usually on a Friday evening , with speakers of excellence invited to share in topics that will evoke interest.

The Church has no electricity, is very rural, and as it is never locked, it is open for quiet and prayer all the time. The Visitors book bears witness.

History

The site at Bonnington has been a place of Christian worship since AD 796. The architecture and materials of the church suggest a Norman date, but the size of the church suggests a saxon origin and this gives credance to its reputation as the oldest church on Romney Marsh.
The chancel is largely unaltered structurally apart from a two light south window fitted at a cost of 28s 8d under the will of William Kynett in 1452.
The three early Norman windows in the east wall are unusual in arrangement as is the position of the double piscina dated not later than the 13th century.

The nave is high-pitched and surmounted at the west end by a 17th century cupola. The timber framed north porch dates from the 14th century. The 12th century stone font has a Jacobean wooden cover. The pulpit is a good example of Georgian woodwork. There is a Jacobean gallery at the west end of the Nave of unusual height.
The church registers date from 1679 while the Parish of Bonnington is entered in the Domesday survey.

St. Rumwold

St. Rumwold was born at King's Sutton in AD 662, the son of St. Cyneburga and King Alchfrid.
Legend says that on the day he was born he said 'I am a Christian' and asked for Baptism and Holy Communion. The next day he preached a sermon, quoting freely from Scripture.
On the third day he addressed a sermon to his parents and then died. His feast day is November 2

Revd Richard Love Priest in charge Tel: 01233-720898