St Augustines Abbey, Canterbury

Description

The monument includes the standing and buried remains of St Augustine's Abbey, situated to the east of Canterbury's city wall, in the area defined by Longport to the south, Monastery Street to the west and Havelock Street and North Holmes Road to the north. It includes the remains of successive periods of the abbey's development as well as Henry VIII's royal palace (constructed following the Dissolution) and evidence of Anglo-Saxon and prehistoric occupation discovered in the course of excavations within and adjacent to the precinct. The southern part of the monument (including the exposed foundations of the abbey church and claustral range) is in the care of the Secretary of State and is on display to the public. The northern part of the abbey precinct is largely overlain by modern buildings including those of Christ Church College and St Augustine's College (the King's School). The eastern part is overlain by Canterbury Prison and the County Court. Areas within the wider precinct which have not been subjected to significant modern development are included in the scheduling. ... In the 13th century the northern claustral range (Listed Grade I), including the lavatorium, frater and kitchen, was totally rebuilt, the lavatorium including a water tower supplied from a conduit house (the subject of a separate scheduling) on St Martin's Hill to the east of the site. The cellarium, in the western range of the cloister buildings, became the site of a new abbot's lodging with a great hall to the north. The Great Court was enlarged and a new main gate in the western precinct wall - the Fyndon Gate (Listed Grade I) - was completed, together with a guest hall, in 1309. During this century the chapter house, adjoining the northern transept of the church, was also rebuilt. Expansion of the precinct to the north allowed the construction of an outer court with a cellarer's range, brewhouse and bakehouse, and, by 1320, a walled vineyard. The western gable of the brewhouse and bakehouse stands adjacent to Coleridge House and is Listed Grade II. Expansion also took place on the eastern side of the abbey where a series of lodgings was added to the infirmary and a new walled cellarer's garden was laid out in the south eastern corner of the precinct. The precinct wall was rebuilt and a new cemetery gate put up in 1390 by the sacrist, Thomas of Ickham. The gate, which has been heavily remodelled, still stands to the south west of the abbey church remains and is a Listed Building Grade I. Thomas also donated bells to the church and to a bell tower which is thought to have been situated on the mound located in the south eastern area of the site. Excavations here in 1964 revealed foundation walls for what was probably a timber framed structure similar to that which survives at Brookland near Appledore. ... In 1538 John Essex, last abbot of St Augustine's, surrendered the abbey to the King's Commissioners. Unlike many ecclesiastical properties following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, St Augustine's was retained by the Crown and, in 1539, some of the buildings of the Great Court were converted to a royal residence in advance of the arrival of Anne of Cleves. The abbot's lodgings, situated on the eastern side of the Great Court, were adapted to provide accommodation for Henry VIII and his chaplain, with a hall for guests. A new building for Anne of Cleves was put up on the south side abutting part of the north wall of the church and of the north western tower (known as Ethelbert's Tower). In addition, a rectangular area immediately to the west of the church was enclosed by a wall extending south from the west door to the north wall of the sacrist's yard, forming the King's Privy Garden. (Scheduling Report)

World Heritage Site 496

Comments

The Abbot was granted a licence to crenellate in 1308 for quandam cameram ultra portam. This is translated in the PRO calendar as 'a chamber, which he is building without the gate of the abbey' although ultra may well, in this licence mean above the gate. The most obvious surviving 'fortified' element from this period is Fyndon's Gateway (The Great Gateway) which well fits with this description. The listing report dates the gatehouse from 1283-1309 showing, as quite usual, the licence was obtained after the building was finished. A suggested licence to the priory reportedly granted by King Stephen in 1135-40, is almost certainly a forgery, although some similar 'forgeries' of this period represent 'copies' of lost documents.