The Church of St Mary’s East Guldeford was built under the patronage of Sir Richard de Guldeford and was consecrated on 20 September 1505. It is unusual in that it is the only one of the Marsh churches originally constructed of brick and is the only one in Sussex, all the others being in Kent.
Annie and Richard Baker are the church wardens and despite having a full-time job of running their farm they work tirelessly to improve the facilities at the church as well as masterminding innovative and thoughtful services, like the tractor and lamb blessing.
15 April 2026 was a momentous day at St Mary’s East Guldeford, because it saw the completion of the new brick path to the entrance of the church. Annie explains why it was such a great milestone, “We applied for permission to improve the pathway to the church because it was often pitted with rabbit holes and, when wet, was treacherous. The faculty took two years in total to achieve. A faculty in the Church of England is a legal permission or authorisation issued by the diocesan Consistory Court to make physical changes, repairs or additions to church buildings, fixtures or churchyards. It acts as a form of ‘ecclesiastical planning permission’, ensuring changes to historic or consecrated places are properly managed. Permissions were also sought from Rother District Council. They requested that a sample brick was sent to their offices for confirmation that they were the correct ones.
“When approval was eventually given, we found the ground was too wet for any work to be carried out so we had to wait until the following year. Romney Marsh Historic Church Trust gave St Mary’s a grant for 50% of the cost and continue to support us with all our renovation works.
“We needed to match their funding and this was paid from the Thomas Longley Trust, endowed in the 1990s with a very generous bequest from a farmer who lived in Camber and was a church warden of the church there for many years. His charitable trust supports both St Thomas the Apostle in Camber and St Mary’s in East Guldeford.
“We engaged restoration specialists B E Ames Builders from New Romney and they carried out the work to a high standard. Thank you also to Darren and Lewis, sub-contracted by B E Ames, for doing such a neat and tidy job. Luckily, we were able to use bricks that were left over from the restoration of the north-east buttress, carried out several years ago.
“The path will be dedicated at the ‘Blessing of the Lambs’ Service on Sunday 3 May at 2.30pm. Last year we had the saga of the escaping lambs which added some drama to the event. All are welcome to this Team Ministry service.
“The next project, starting very soon, is the renovation of the Table tomb in the churchyard; again the Romney Marsh Historic Trust will pay half. We are the only such church in Sussex and are supported so well.”
Image Credits: Annie Baker .