Northbourne is a village about 3.5 miles W of Deal. The church of St Augustine is a cruciform church with a central tower, a nave, a chancel and a transept. A restoration took place in 1865, when the N and S porches were added to the structure. Sir Stephen R. Glynne, writing in 1877, described its blend of Romanesque and early Gothic styles as 'curious', a word he uses no less than three times. The principal Romanesque features include the tower arches, the S doorway, and some reset fragments found in the exterior S and W walls of the building. The fieldworkers are grateful to local historical Andrew Parkinson for drawing their attention to the capital in the N Transept, and also for information about the material discovered nearby at Holm Cottage (see separate stite report).

A settlement at 'Norborne' is briefly mentioned in the Domesday Survey as held by St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury.

The fact that one of the tower arches is pointed might imply a late 12th-c construction date. However, there has been much restoration here - the S doorway is a case in point. Clearly at least one feature has also been lost, either in a later medieval rebuilding or in the more recent past, as evidenced by the reset fragments in the W wall. In fact, the decorated spiral column with beaded decoration is of fine quality and unusually elaborate for a parish church.