A weekend of celebrations to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the martyrdom of St Alphege took place in Whitstable over the weekend.

Called Alphest, it was based at St Alphege Church in the High Street where the festivities began with drama and artwork during a day-long Saxon fair.

Morris dancing on the church forecourt at lunchtime and was followed by a Viking beach landing at Keam’s Yard by the East Kent Historical Organisation which then rampaged through the town.

St Alphege was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1006 until he was killed by marauding Vikings after a drunken feast in 1012. He was made a saint by Pope Gregory in 1078 and April 19 was made his feast day.

Sunday saw a service and a re-enactment of St Alphege’s martyrdom outside the church.

The events were organised by the Friends of St Alphege Town Church.

Rachel Webbley, who has been reverend at St Alphege for almost five years, said: “The weekend was great and people really seemed to engage with the story of St Alphege.
“It was one of our goals to get the story of his life out there and the East Kent Historical Organisation were excellent.
“People are often asking who St Alphege was and they don’t realise that it is important history and much of it is local to the area.
“He stood up to Vikings who were extorting money and behaving like bullies. He also managed to convert a lot of his captors, which was very brave of him.
“The 1,000th anniversary of his martyrdom is something important worth marking.”

Log on to www.stalphege.org.uk for more information about the church or St Alphege. If you are interested in becoming a friend of St Alphege Church, call 01227 273329.

See this week's Whitstable Gazette for more pictures.