insideKENT Magazine Issue 49 - April 2016 | Page 96

VISITKENT
Explore Thanet cont.
RAMSGATE
St Augustine's © Michael Desbruslais

The Grange

Augustus Pugin was an artist, architect and designer who was particularly
known for his work in the Gothic Revival style. He is famous for designing
the interior of the Palace of Westminster, as well as Elizabeth Tower (more
commonly known as Big Ben). His legacy is all around us, and his links to
Ramsgate are important ones.

are available for self-catering
holidays, and can be booked
through
www.landmarktrust.org.uk.
Weekly guided tours of the
ground floor of The Grange take
place every Wednesday
afternoon (with the exception of
times during the Christmas and
New Year periods). This
fascinating tour must be booked
in advance. To do so, contact
Catriona Blaker between 6pm
and 8pm on 01843 596401.
Entry is £4. A small exhibition
room, the Cartoon Room,
provides information about the
building, its history and the Pugin
Proposed Sanctuary
family. The Cartoon Room is
open on Wednesday afternoons from 2-4pm or by appointment, and it is
free to enter.

Pugin came to Ramsgate in 1843 and over the next year designed and
built his family home by the sea. The Grange, as it was known, was groundbreaking in terms of its style, and is known as one of the most important
pieces of Gothic Revival architecture in the world.
After much detailed research, the Landmark Trust have been able to restore
The Grange to its former splendour, and the colourful interiors feature
Pugin’s own personally designed wallpaper. There are magnificent stained
glass windows and impressive stone fireplaces throughout the house, a
beautiful family chapel, and the entire look is simply breathtaking.
Pugin converted to Catholicism when he was 22 in 1834, and his designs
and the house itself reflect this throughout. But The Grange also shows the
man’s personality, and how much he cared for his family; through a visit
to Pugin’s house, it is possible to come away with a sense of him, and to
understand him all the better for it. The integral tower allows unparalleled
views over the entire St Augustine’s site.

As well as the house, Pugin purchased a small church on the same St
Augustine’s site which he worked on at his own expense. This was the
personal church of the Pugin family, and it is where Augustus Pugin himself
is buried. Pugin worked on the church between 1845 and 1852 and

St Edward's Presbytery, also part of Pugin’s vision for a Gothic Revival, has
also been restored by the Landmark Trust. Both The Grange and St Edward’s

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