Faversham Stone Chapel, Faversham, Kent
This is a medieval chapel built on top of a Roman mausoleum – a very rare occurrence. The Roman building was excavated during the 19th century and again in the 1960s and 1970s. This building has been interpreted as a Romano-British mausoleum, a tomb standing above ground. Mausolea were built to contain and mark high-status burials. They often served as family tombs. Overlying this Roman building, but making use of its surviving walls, are the ruins of a mainly flint-built medieval church. The medieval builders used the Roman building as the chancel of the church, while a new nave was built to the west. There may even have been an earlier timber-built Saxon church on the site. The church was abandoned by the 1530s. This site is now in the care of English Heritage (2011). Read more.
