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Champing at Fordwich, UK: spooky & sustainable fun

Have you ever been champing in Fordwich, UK? It’s a bit like camping, except rather than sleeping in a tent or swag, you’ll find yourself spending the night in a church! Read on to find out why champing is both such a fun and sustainable travel idea.

Inside St Mary the Virgin Church in Fordwich, where I went champing for the night.
The inside of St. Mary the Virign Church in Fordwich.

Looking for somewhere to go glamping near Canterbury? Or just fancy staying somewhere quirky in the UK?

Why not consider champing overnight in a de-consecrated church? Yes you read that right and no, it’s not a typo.

‘Champing’ is quite simply, the act of sleeping (camping) in a church. In the case, a 900-year-old church, out near the Kentish coast.

Champing kicked off in 2015, implemented by the Churches Conservation Trust. Church attendance these days is obviously not what it was a couple of centuries ago.

So, while many churches around England remain consecrated and open to the public, services have not been performed in some for almost 50 years.

These beautiful, historic buildings are rotting in their foundations and visitor donations aren’t enough to keep them going.

Some pure genius at the CCT stumbled upon the mother of all ideas – to rent the churches out to overnight guests. Brilliant.

Outside St Mary the Virgin Church in Fordwich, Kent, which is right next to a graveyard. Champing in Fordwich is a completely quirky thing to do in Kent.
Entry to the church.


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A sign indicating the direction of the town church.
This way, please!

What it’s like to go champing in Fordwich, Kent

If you’re passionate about responsible travel and sustainability, then this is perfect for you. Not only is it low-impact – the money spent champing goes back into the maintenance of these extremely old and vulnerable buildings.

When I went champing, the Churches available for the experience were only in south-east England.

Now churches across the country have signed up for the experience. However, for the purpose of this review, we’ll be going champing in Fordwich, which has the distinction of bring Britain’s tiniest town!

The Church spire, which is the oldest part of the building, at dusk.
The oldest part of the church.
Stained glass details inside the church, over the altar.
Love a bit of stained glass.

Picking the right Church for champing

Fordwich is not too far away from the town of Canterbury – still considered the religious capital of England.

The Church of St. Mary the Virgin is ideal for Londoners for a few reasons.

It’s not too far to travel there from the city, which is great if you’re short on time.

A beautiful creek in Fordwich.
Fordwich is quiet and pretty.
A woman stands next to a sign which reads 'Fordwich, Britain's smallest town. Twinned with Aire Sur La Lys'. Find out about champing in Fordwich.
What a sweet, little claim to fame.

It was available on the date I wanted to go champing. This was obviously necessary too.

Plus, it is so gosh darn cute and sits right next to a pub.

I’m sold. How about you?

Getting out to Fordwich

I went champing with my then boyfriend, perhaps because we were somehow running out of quirky London date ideas.

Although I’ve trained it to Kent before, I decided that a car would be the easiest means of transportation. I use Rentalcars.com to compare car prices.

I brought a doona (duvet), a sleeping bag and pillows along with our backpacks, which would have been a mission to travel with via public transport.

It takes around an hour and a half to get to St Mary’s from south east London.

Once there I found the key, unlocked the door and walked into the church that we’d be calling home for the night.

Inside Fordwich's church.
The church seemed as intact as it would have been when services were still performed here.
Lights available next to information booklets.
Necessary for the nighttime.

Champing in Fordwich – inside the church

As with the town itself, the church is small, with box pews – something I’d never seen before. I guess it’s not a very Australian thing.

One in the far left corner was where the choir would sing. It’s now fitted with a couple of camp beds, where we’d be laying our heads for the night.

Camp chairs around a table in St Mary the Virgin, a champing church in Fordwich.
Perfect set up for wine and chats.
Detailed footstools and a copy of the bible.
Love the thought put into the footstools.

I walk around the church, taking in the set up.

Towards the left, near the vestibule, a small table is set up with a trio of camping chairs. A food hamper for breakfast is placed to the side. A water purify and kettle have too been set up for use.

St Mary’s doesn’t have its own toilet, so a very cool looking compost loo is contained in the vestibule in the church. Yay! I love composting, so am very excited about this.

It’s a sunny afternoon and we are super hungry, so we totter off to the pub to eat, drink beer and Pimms and bask in the remainder of the sunlight.

Looking down the aisle in Fordwich's church.
What was in here, I wonder?
The beer garden at Fordwich's town pub on a sunny day.
A perfect summer’s afternoon.

Spending the night in a 900-year old Church

We return to the church at around ten o’clock at night, sufficiently fed and watered.

As the sun has set, the building has gone from being charming, to a little bit spooky.

We deal with it by turning on all the lights, sitting up drinking wine and trading stories. As midnight arrives, we both started to get tired and decide to give sleep a chance.

Doona in the box pews, looking up at the ceiling of the church.
My doona really matches the decor of the church.
Battery operated candles in the church box pews.
The battery operated candles were cute.

There is one disappointing factor with the camp beds – they don’t come with any foam mattresses.

I spread a blanket and the sleeping bag across them, throwing the doona on top.

We climb into bed and cuddle up underneath the covers. It isn’t as cold as I have been expecting, but the temperature is still loads lower than it ever is in our flat at this time of the year.

A woman champing in the Fordwich church.
Am not fake sleeping or anything, for the purpose of this photo.
Close up of a woman champing in the Fordwich church.
Zzzzzzzz.

I don’t fall asleep straight away, realising about 40 mins later that I need to visit the loo.

I deal with this fact calmly and maturely by waking my boyfriend up from his slumber and demanding he accompany me.

Eventually, I drift off. Sunlight begins streaming through the church windows at around 4am, but I avoid this disturbance by wearing an eye-mask.

I did get woken up a few times by several ‘bumps in the night’ – expected of old buildings, but spooky considering the circumstances! People who died during the plague are buried under the floor, after all.

The view from the church front door.
The morning after.

The next morning

I wake up the next day, a bit stiff from the camp bed, but elated all the same.

Unfortunately, we are working to a tight schedule, which means we have to be packed up and leaving by ten am.

I am not good in the mornings and require at least two cups of tea to get going. As a result, we are scrambling to be ready by ten to ten.

I pop into the vestibule to get changed, which is a good idea. A minute later we are interrupted by two visitors entering the church, intent on having a poke around.

“Um, the church isn’t open until ten am,” I say rather sheepishly, going on to explain that we’d hired it out for the night. They are lovely and decide to wait outside, until we are on our way out.

We do a final sweep of the church and I re-deposit the key. Then we hop into our hire car and drive back to London.

Gravestones near St Mary the Virgin in Fordwich, Kent.
Not creeped out by this at all.

What do you need to bring for champing?

Here’s what you should pack, if you’re heading off for a champing experience of your own.

  • Pillows
  • Something to lie on, if you don’t want to be directly on the camp beds, like a foam mattress
  • Dinner (or you can buy it nearby)
  • A duvet
  • Pjs
  • Reusable water bottle
  • Toiletries (although you couldn’t shower while champing in Fordwich)
  • Change of clothes.
Part of the tomb of St Augustine, located in the Church of St Mary the Virgin.
St Augustine was buried in nearby Canterbury and this is reputed to be part of his original tomb.

Champing in Fordwich – is it worth doing??

Absolutely. It feels good knowing that the money we are spending on the experience funds the maintenance of this incomprehensibly old building.

My one complaint is that the camp beds didn’t have any kind of mattress to speak of. I’d recommend bringing something to lie on, for a comfortable night’s sleep.

There are all sorts of weird and wacky places to stay all over the UK, filled to the brim with history and heritage – our experience champing was only scratching the surface.

I highly recommend champing in Fordwich if you’re keen to try something different on a day trip from London. It’s definitely one of the more unusual places to stay in Kent. Would you sleep overnight in a 900-year old church?

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25 Comments

  1. Love it! The only time I’ve heard about staying in a church they have been completely renovated to no longer look like a church, so this idea is brilliant.

  2. It’s great you managed to sleep on those camp beds without foam mattresses. But other then, that we can expect from a 900 year old church that is ready to shelter us 🙂 The church architecture looks beautiful

  3. I lived in Cambridge for a summer and my dorm was older than America! It was totally mind blowing. This church experience looks amazing and totally unique. Love all of the detail in the old buildings

    1. Haha most of England is older than buildings in Australia, so I know the feeling. I go into buildings and think “HOW HAS THIS EXISTED SINCE THE 1200s?! HOW?!”

  4. Haha, tbh, this post at first didn’t really appeal to me, because I’m not a big history or church fan (I am a christian though, so I have been in quite a few churches). But I actually enjoyed the way you write and the pictures and enjoyed getting to know this concept of renting a church ’cause I had never heard of it before.

    1. Thanks Danielle. I like the fact that it’s helping to fund the restoration of the buildings, for future generations to enjoy.

  5. At first glance, I thought that there has been a mistake, “Champing”, what is that? But glad to know about it and the noble cause for which it is done! Quite an experience, though, sleeping on the beds with no mattresses!

  6. What a unique experience! I have never heard of champing but it is certainly intriguing! i totally would’ve forced someone to come to the bathroom with me!

  7. Very interesting to stay at a church, I’d never heard of this! I love hearing about lesser known and unique places to stay. Thanks for sharing.

  8. Wow, I had no idea this was a thing people could do. I’ve always been fascinated by all the beautiful old churches in Europe, especially England, and I would love to do this one day!!

  9. I love unique locations to stay and visit and this definitely fits the bill. Now I have to add champing in Scotland to my endless bucket list lol. Thanks for the inspiration.

  10. I am champing this weekend just outside Oxford. Not sure what I’ve gotten myself into, but we’ll see how it goes! Thanks for the tip about something to lie on and eye masks. Wish me luck haha

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