Claimed to be the oldest church in the English speaking world. St. Martin's, according to Bede, was built during the Roman occupation (c 410). Some of the Roman walls survive. It was here that Augustine worshipped in 597 when he first came to Britain.
The outside walls are a patchwork quilt that include Roman, Saxon and later work. I can clearly see the Roman construction bricks dotted around the walls.
There is something profoundly anchoring about a place where continuity is made physical. Each repair has preserved rather than erased what came before, binding Roman brick, Saxon worship and later craftsmanship into one living fabric. To cross its threshold is to enter a story still unfolding upon the same ancient ground.
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