thumb|290px|St Mary's chapel was built on the site of the shrine, although 1601 refers to the date it was restored and not the date of the original structure.
The Shrine of Our Ladye Star of the Sea was an old chapel on the cliffs at Broadstairs (which was formerly known as Bradstowe). Dating back at least to the 1350s, the two towers of the chapel were a major landmark for sailors in the area. Given the veneration in which the shrine was held, the custom developed of ships dipping their top-sails to salute the shrine as they sailed past it.
The Chapel of St. Mary's structural remains are, as incorporated in the modern façade, situated on the site of what has been said also to be the oldest surviving building still standing in contemporary Broadstairs, and within its modern content is all that remains of the Medieval Shrine of "Our Lady of Bradstowe". It stands near the harbour on today's Albion Street, at the junction with Alexandra Road.
History
It is said that the Shrine and its Chapel were known to have existed prior to the year 1070, as it was in that year that the old Saxon Church of St. Peter's, then a wooden structure, was rebuilt with stone and flint as the second daughter church of Minster-in-Thanet.
The original building contained the famous shrine of "Our Ladye of Bradstowe", a painted wooden statue of the Virgin Mary. The tradition maintained by the Royal Navy of "showing the flag" at seaside towns to uphold the morale of the Navy is said to have its origins in a service held at the Bradstowe Chapel in 1514 with the crew of the Henry Grace à Dieu in attendance, whilst the largest and latest addition to the King's Fleet was moored nearby. There was also a wooden cross at the top of the cliff. Chapel Stairs in Albion Street marks where steps cut into the chalk used to go down to the harbor.
Up until about 1514, when Trinity House took over such duties, it was traditional for coastal towns and village's to display some kind of beacon on the high points of their coastline as a warning against the locally known potential hazards to shipping. Thus in medieval times the Chapel of St. Mary was known as "The Chapel of Blue Light", for its light was given out into the dark seas through a blue glass lantern.
Culmer chapel
During the 1520s a severe storm that lasted several days swept into Viking Bay with a storm surge and destroyed the Shrine, badly damaging the Chapel.