St Augustine's Abbey and Museum Canterbury

After our first tour of the day, and a brief pause for some lunch en-route, Anne B. lead Co.
Lauren and I across the nightmarishly busy ring road to the maze of narrow streets opposite the
Cathedral, where we were to meet up with the rest of our party at the Abbey. Having been
apprehensive from other people's comments that a fair old hike was going to be in order I was
pleasantly surprised to discover that our goal actually lay only a few short streets away, and
immediately visible long before we reached the entrance to the Abbey grounds were a pair of
magnificent Gatehouses (dated to the 12th and 14th centuries respectively). Impressive in
themselves, they are now the most potent reminders above ground of this Abbey's long reign and
considerable wealth and importance (dare I even say 'high status'?).

St Augustines Crypt and Altar

Continuing to prosper, the Abbey apparently amazingly emerged into the tenth century as the
only surviving monastery in Kent, all the others having been sacked and destroyed by Viking
invaders. As the centuries passed St. Peter and St. Paul's grew.
 St Augustines from Wulfrics Octagon

Its buildings underwent several quite major enlargements and alterations with each new Abbot,
including a re-dedication of the monastery to its founder in 978 and it was from this time on that
the Abbey became formally known as St. Augustine's. Many of those phases of development can
still be seen among what remains today, from the humble Church of St. Pancras with its Saxon
foundations, to the large, ambitious, and ornate Norman church which was created by co-joining
St. Peter and St. Paul's with St. Mary's. The ruins of this building still comprise the bulk of the
remaining foundations, and includes the vaults of Bishop Wulfric's unfinished rotunda.
 Already standing on the site were three Saxon churches, dedicated respectively to Saints
Pancras, Peter and Paul

It was also during this time that extensive new monastic buildings were completed and aligned to
the new church. Time continued to pass, and the Abbey was repeatedly added to and
embellished. Today, even the small fragments of decorative stonework and painted plaster which
were uncovered during excavation work (now on display in the museum) help to give us some
idea of just how ornate and beautiful it must have become by the Norman era. As it expanded its
lands and properties it also became increasingly wealthy, and was renowned both for its
scholarship and scriptorium, which housed (by the time of the Dissolution) some 2000 volumes.
Sadly, today of that great number only some 200 now remain
 View of St Augustines

By the 1500's the Abbey had become fourteenth richest in the country. Nonetheless, it and all its
wealth and possessions were duly surrendered to the crown at the orders of Henry VIII on July
30th 1538. Treasures and relics were either dispersed or destroyed while the buildings
themselves underwent a new phase of demolition and re-development into a Royal Palace, which
Henry had prepared for the arrival of the new Queen, Anne of Cleves.
 St Augustines West end

But after this, neither Henry VIII nor his successors made very much use of the building and it
was eventually leased to a variety of Noblemen including Lord Cobham, and Edward, Lord
Wotton.

It was Wotton who employed John Tradescant the elder to lay out the grounds, the design for
which is now reputed to be the oldest surviving plan for a British garden (shown quite clearly in
a fine illustration c. 1640).
 St Augustines Wulfric Rotunda

From then onwards the Abbey/Palace buildings quietly declined, becoming increasingly ruinous
and eventually succumbing to re-development in the Eighteenth century as parts were sold off
for the construction of Canterbury Gaol and the Kent and Canterbury Hospital.

Even though work at that time uncovered burials on the site, arousing the interest of local
historians, it was not until A.J. Beresford Hope purchased it in 1848 that the remaining old
buildings began to receive proper care and attention. Today the entire area, including parts of
King's School, the Cathedral, the Abbey remains and the Saxon Church of St. Martin's (where
Queen Bertha is thought to have worshipped) have all been declared a World Heritage site.
 St Augustines site of grave

St. Augustine's Abbey played an important role in the English Church, its foundation marking
the introduction of Roman Catholicism into England.

The Museum and Visitor Center which now forms the entrance to the Abbey grounds opened in
1997 as part of the celebrations for the 1400th anniversary of St. Augustine's arrival in Kent. It
provides multimedia displays and contains some 250 objects, some of which are quite unique.
Free (and very useful) interactive audio guides are available in six languages can be obtained on
entry
 Stonework in the Museum

Today,much that the modern visitor sees are remains that date from the Norman era, and the
museum indicates that surprisingly, relatively few artifacts were uncovered during excavation
considering the long occupation of the site. However, as you look around the ruins there are
tantalizing architectural hints from other periods such as Tudor brickwork from the former Royal
Palace, and also a considerable amount of recycled Roman brick and tile among the walls -
begging the question - from just whereabouts locally might they have been obtained....... Next
stop, the Big Dig!

This is a very brief description of the site and it's history and in no way does this interesting site
full justice.

report by Caz
photos by Peter Glass and Corinne