All Saints' Church, also known as Lydd Church or The Cathedral on the Marsh, is a church in Lydd, Kent, South East England. It belongs to the Diocese of Canterbury. All Saints is the longest parish church in Kent at, and also has one of the tallest towers in the county at. The church is thought to incorporate a small Romano-British basilica possibly built in the 5th century, though most of the current fabric is medieval. It was associated with local fraternities or guilds in the 15th century and could seat 1,000 people at a time. Severely damaged by World War II bombing, the church was subsequently restored and is now a Grade I listed building.HistoryThe church was long thought to be Saxon in origin, but recent studies have dated the oldest section to the latter half of the 5th century, making it Romano-British. It appears to incorporate a very small basilica which had an apse, an arcade on the north side of three bays, and an elaborate porch on the west side. This is considerably different from Anglo-Saxon churches, leading to a Romano-British attribution.In the fifteenth century, a number of Fraternities or Guilds of lay parishioners were connected with the church. Each of these fraternities held services in a different part of the church, either at a special altar of its patron saint, or before the image of that saint; and each fraternity maintained a light before the altar, or image of its patron. In the fifteenth century, the Fraternities were those of the Holy Trinity, All Saints, St. James, St. Peter, St. Mary, St. Katherine, St. John the Baptist, and St. George. In the following century, St. Barbara, St. Anthony, St. Mildred, and St. Nicholas were added. The church registers for christenings and marriages began in 1542 and for burials in 1539.
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