A Grade I listed church built by "Big Ben" architect Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin in Ramsgate has become an official shrine to St Augustine.

The Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith, designated St Augustine in Ramsgate a shrine to the 'Apostle of the English' in an official decree.

It is the first time in 500 years that a shrine to St Augustine has existed in Britain, the former shrine on the Isle of Thanet having been destroyed during the Reformation.

St Augustine’s is a Catholic church already dedicated to the saint and stands closer than any other to the place of Augustine’s landing, his first preaching and his momentous encounter with King Ethelbert of Kent in 597AD.

The official day on which the foundation of the shrine will be remembered is 1 March, the day of Pugin’s birthday.

It is a fitting link to the architect who fitted out the church in every detail and who lies within it.

Fr Marcus Holden, the parish priest and custodian of St Augustine’s, commented: “This is amazing news for us. Pugin’s church is secured by this added living identity which also fulfils many of his own dreams in honouring the English saints and St Augustine in particular.

"There was need here not only to rescue the church as a great work of art but also to find a fitting spiritual significance for the future of the site.

"Through his decree, the Archbishop has done just that. The shrine will now draw pilgrims keen to learn about the early saints and to pray for a conversion of England in our own times."