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Our meeting on 21st April was in Canterbury , Kent. We visited Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustines Abbey and Museum and The Big Dig. Those who came along were Caz and baby Lauren, Anne B, Sir Mark and Princess Emily, Corinne, Matty and Julie plus three of Matt’s friends.
The sun was actually shining for our visit to Canterbury! We met outside the main entrance to the Cathedral – our wee group of Mark and Emily, Anne B, Corinne, Mark, Julie and 3 of their friends. There was no sign of Caz and Lauren , nor of Alan either. As Anne had visited the Cathedral many times before she decided to wait outside for the missing ones before heading off shopping and to meet up again with at for lunch. Once inside the cathedral, some of us bought our official camera permits and wandered around complete with bright yellow ‘official photographers ‘ badges! Canterbury Cathedral is by no means a museum – it is used on a daily basis for regular services throughout the year. Although there were a fair number of people on the day of our visit it was not as crowded as I imagined it would be. We made our way down to the crypt which was shutting early as a matrimony service was being held – apparently the ‘daughter of the boss’ was getting hitched! I have never been in a crypt so large before – this Norman crypt is the largest in the world. Unfortunately you weren’t allowed to take photos in here – mainly due to the Byzantine frescoes in St Gabriels Chapel which date from the early 1100’s. I was standing looking at these beautiful wall paintings when lo and behold there appeared a vision in front of me! Was it a miracle? No – It was Caz and Lauren. Turns out her mobile phone clock was an hour slow! Ha! The pillar capitals in the crypt are carved with figures and animals and some of the original paintwork remains. The original resting place of St Thomas Becket , who was murdered in the Cathedral is also situated here in the crypt. From here we wound our way back up into the south west transept and back along the south aisle towards the Trinity chapel and the Corona. Emily was given a fair few history lessons and proved how observant she is when she noticed that the tomb of Edward IV was more than accurate – funny how people who had leprosy seem to have their fingers missing isn’t it. The tomb of the Black prince and the case displaying his original accoutrements including a lovely helmet complete with lion on top – Caz and I had to have a good gander at this – were fascinating. Caz and I made out way with Lauren outside to the Cloisters and spent ages looking up into the arches and tracery studying the heraldry and bosses – plenty of green men here plus some very odd looking specimens! report by Corinne Mills
St Augustine’s Abbey and Museum
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’?). 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. 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. 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. 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. 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). 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. 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.
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! report by Caz
The Big Dig – Canterbury
Over the next few years , the WhiteFriars development will lay a large area within the town walls open to archaeological investigation. The present stage of the excavation is taking place at St.Georges Street. Small scale excavations preceding the Big Dig have revealed the ditch boundary of Iron Age ‘ Durovernum’ , a length of Watling Street from Roman ‘Durovernum Cantiacorum’ and part of the Anglo Saxon St Georges Street of ‘Cantwaraburh’. Whitefriars was the final visit on our itinery. We strolled through the gift shop, which contained souveniers that Caz found very interesting, and into the small site museum. Small finds , mostly from the Roman and Medieval periods, were arranged in glass display cabinets
Moving onto the walkways and gazing down at the site, we tried to make sense of what we were looking at! Exposed to view lay the clay floors of medieval houses , clustered along a narrow street. Pits scattered around the site turned out to be rubbish dumps, some brick-lines and betraying their origins as wells. A masonry cesspit and the remains of walls marked the site of the original Whitefriars church, adjacent to a Roman road. Further excavations, as the development continues and expands,are expected to reveal more of the monastic buildings and to disclose valuable information about the history of Canterbury. Exciting times are approaching for the town’s archaeology. report by Mark McManus_________________Corinne Mills
Metal Detecting – helping to uncover archaeology
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