CANTERBURY, a city (ancient), and county of CANTERBURY, having
separate jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Bridge-and-Petham,
lathe of ST-AUGUSTINE, eastern division of the county of KENT,
26 miles (S. E. by E.) from Rochester, 16 (N. W. by W.) from Dovor,
and 55 (E. by S.) from London, containing 12,745 inhabitants, and,
including the suburbs and portions of parishes which are
without the liberties of the city, 15,373. This place,
the origin of which is not distinctly known, is, from the discovery
of numerous Druidical relics, supposed to have
been distinguished at a very early period for the celebration
of the religious rites of the Britons, prior to the
Christian era. That it was a British town of considerable
importance before the Roman invasion, is not only
confirmed by the numerous celts, and other instruments
of British warfare, that have been at various times found
in the vicinity, but by the name of the station which
the Romans fixed here on their establishment in the
island, ajad which they called Durovernum, a name obviously
derived from the British Dwr, a stream, and
when swift, being characteristic of the Stour, upon
which it is situated. From this station three roads
branched off to Rhutupis, Dubree, and Lemanum, now
Richborough, Dovor, and Limne. By the Saxons, who,
on their arrival in Britain, were established in this part
of Kent, it was called Cantwara-byrig, from which its
present name is evidently deduced. Canterbury was
the metropolis of the Saxon kingdom of Kent, and the
residence of its kings, of whom Ethelbert having married
Bertha of France, who had been educated in the principles
of Christianity, allowed her by treaty the free
exercise of her religion, and suffered her to bring over
with her a limited number of ecclesiastics. The Christian
religion had been partially promulgated during the
occupation of the city by the Romans, and two churches
had been built in the second century, one of which, on
Bertha's' arrival, was consecrated for her use by the
Bishop of Soissons, and dedicated to St. Martin. During
the reign of this monarch, Augustine, who had been
sent by Pope Gregory to convert the Britons to Christianity,
took up his station at Canterbury, where,
through the influence of Bertha, .he was courteously
received: his mission was attended with success; the
king, who soon became a convert, resigned  to him his
palace, which he converted into a priory for brethren of
his own order; and, in conjunction with Ethelbert, he
founded an abbey without the city walls, dedicated to
St. Peter and St. Paul. Being invested by the pope with
the dignity of an archbishop, he made this city the seat
of the metropolitan see, which distinction it has retained
for more than twelve centuries, under an uninterrupted
succession of ninety archbishops, many of
whom have been eminent for their talents and their
virtues, and distinguished by the important offices they
have held in the administration of the temporal affairs
of the kingdom. Among these may be noticed Dunstan,
who governed the kingdom with absolute authority
during the reigns of Edred and Edwy; Stigand, who,
for his opposition to William the Conqueror, was displaced
from his see; Lanfranc, his successor, who
rebuilt the cathedral, and founded several religious
establishments; the celebrated Thomas a Becket;
Stephen Langton, who was raised to the see in defiance
of King John; Cranmer, who, for his zeal in promoting
the Reformation, was burnt at the stake in the reign
of Mary; and Laud, who, for his strenuous support of
the measures of his sovereign, Charles I., was beheaded
during the usurpation of Cromwell. The abbey was
intended as a place of sepulture for the successors of
the archbishop in the see of Canterbury, and for those
of the monarch in the kingdom of Kent: the cathedral,
which was not completed at the time of Augustine's
decease, was dedicated to our Saviour, and is still usually
called Christ Church.
The city suffered frequently from the ravages of the
Danes, of whom, on their advancing against it in 1009,
the inhabitants, by the advice of Archbishop Siricius,
purchased a peace for the sum of £30,000, obtaining from
them an oath not to renew their aggressions; but in 1011,
they again landed at Sandwich/and laid siege to the city,
which, after a resolute defence for.three weeks on the
part of the inhabitants, they took by storm and reduced
to ashes. In this siege, forty-three thousand two hundred
persons were slain, more than eight thousand of the
inhabitants were massacred, and among the prisoners
whom they carried off to their camp at Greenwich was
Alphege, the archbishop, whom they afterwards put to
death at Blackheath, for refusing to sanction their extortions.
Canute, after his usurpation of the throne
upon the death of Edmund Ironside, contributed greatly
to the rebuilding of the city, and the restoration of the
cathedral; and, placing his crown upon the altar, gave
the revenue of the port of Sandwich for the support of
the monks. From this time the city began to revive,
and continued to flourish till the Norman Conquest,
when, according to Stowe, it surpassed London in extent
and magnificence. In Domesday-book it is described,
under the title " Civitas Cantuarise," as a populous city,
having a castle, which, as there is no previous mention,
of it, was probably built by the Conqueror, to keep his
Saxon subjects in awe; the remains now visible are
evidently of Norman character. In 1080, the cathedral
was destroyed by fire, but was restored with great splendour,
and dedicated to the Holy Trinity, by Archbishop
Lanfranc, who rebuilt the monastic edifices, erected the
archbishop's palace, founded and endowed a priory,
which he dedicated to St. Gregory, and built the hospitals
of St. John and St. Nicholas. In 1161, the city
was nearly consumed by fire, and it suffered materially
from a similar calamity at several subsequent periods.
In 1170, the memorable murder of Thomas a Becket
was perpetrated in the cathedral, as he was ascending
the steps leading from the nave into the choir: his
subsequent canonization tended greatly to enrich the city
and the church, by the costly offerings of numerous
pilgrims of all ranks, who came not only from every
part of England, but from every place in Christendom,
to visit his shrine. From this source a rich fund was
obtained for the enlargement and embellishment of the
cathedral, which rapidly recovered from the repeated
devastations to which it was exposed, and from which
it invariably arose with increased magnificence. Four
years after the murder of Becket, Henry II. performed a
pilgrimage to Canterbury, where, prostrating himself
before the shrine of the martyr, he submitted to be
scourged by the monks, whom he had assembled for
that purpose. In 1299, the nuptials of Edward I. and
Margaret of Anjou were celebrated with great pomp in
this city, which, in the reign of Edward IV., was constituted
a county of itself, under the designation of the
" City and County of the City of Canterbury." Little
variety henceforward occurs in the civil history of this
city, the interests of which were so closely interwoven
with the ecclesiastical establishments, that, upon their
dissolution in the reign of Henry VIII., its prosperity
materially declined.
The jubilees which, by indulgence of the pope, were
celebrated every fiftieth year, in honour of St. Thomas a
Becket, caused a great influx of wealth into the city,
which owed much of its trade to the immense number
of pilgrims who came to visit his shrine: according to
the civic records, more than one hundred thousand persons
attended the fifth jubilee, in 1420, when the number
and richness of their offerings were incredible; the
last of these jubilees was celebrated in 1520. The
dissolution of the priory of Christ Church was effected
gradually: the festivals in honour of the martyr were
successively abolished, his gorgeous shrine was stripped
of its costly ornaments, and the bones of the saint were,
according to Stowe, ultimately burnt to ashes, and
scattered to the winds: the revenue, at the dissolution, was
estimated at £2489. 4. 9., a sum greatly inferior to the
actual value of its numerous and extensive possessions.
At this period part of the monastery of St. Augustine
was converted by Henry VIII. into a royal palace, in
which Queen Elizabeth held her court for several days.
During her reign, the Walloons, driven from the Netherlands
by persecution on account of their religious tenets,
found an asylum at Canterbury, where they introduced
the weaving of silk and stuffs; their descendants are
still numerous in the city and its neighbourhood, and
continue to use, as their place of worship, the crypt under
the cathedral, which was granted to them by Elizabeth,
and where the service is performed in the French language.
Charles I., in 1625, solemnized his marriage
with Henrietta Maria of France at this place; and
during the war in the reign of that monarch, the city
was occupied by a regiment of Cromwell's horse, that
committed great havoc in the ecclesiastical buildings,
and wantonly mutilated and defaced the cathedral, which
they used as stabling for their horses. A political tumult
occurred in 1647, in which originated the celebrated
Kentish Association in favour of Charles I., that terminated
in the siege of Colchester, and in the execution,
after its capture, of Lord Capel, Sir Charles Lucas, and
Sir George Lisle. Charles II., on his return from France
at the Restoration, held his court in the royal palace at
Canterbury, for three days; and, in 1676, that monarch
granted a charter of incorporation to the emigrant silkweavers
settled in this city, who, on the revocation of the
edict of Nantes in 1685, were joined by a considerable
number of other artizans from France.
The city is pleasantly situated in a fertile vale environed
with gently rising hills, from which numerous
streams of excellent water descend, and is intersected by
the river Stour, which, dividing and re-uniting its stream,
forms several islands, on one of which, anciently called
Birmewith, the western part of it is built. It still occupies
the original site, and is of an elliptic form; the
Romans surrounded it with walls that appear to have
been built of flint and chalk, and to have included an
area one mile and three quarters in circumference,
defended by a moat one hundred and fifty feet in width;
of these nearly the whole is remaining, and on that
part which forms the terrace of the promenade, called
Dane John Field, are four of the ancient towers in
good preservation; the arches over the river have been
taken down at various times, and of the six gates that
formed the principal entrances, only the west gate,
through which is the entrance from the London road,
is standing; it is a handsome embattled structure,
erected about the year 1380, by Archbishop Sudbury,
who also rebuilt a considerable portion of the city
wall, and consists of a centre flanked by two round
towers, having their foundations in the bed of the
western branch of the Stour, over which is a stone
bridge of two arches, that has been widened for the
accommodation of carriages and foot passengers, an
approach having been cut through the city walls
for each. The principal streets, intersecting at right
angles, and the smaller streets, were originally pavtd
under an act of parliament obtained in the reign of
Edward IV.; they were subsequently made more convenient
by an act passed in 1787, for the improvement
of the city, and are now lighted with gas by a company
established under an act obtained in 1822: the inhabitants
are amply supplied with water conveyed into
their houses from the river, by a company established
in 1824, by act of parliament; and with excellent spring
water brought from St. Martin's Hill, into a spacious
conduit in one of the ancient towers on the city wall,
whence it is distributed to the most populous parts of
the city, at the expense of the corporation. The houses
in some parts retain their ancient appearance, with the
upper stories projecting; the greater part of the old
Checquers Inn, mentioned by Chaucer, as frequented by
pilgrims visiting Becket's shrine, has been converted
into a range of dwelling-houses, extending from St.
Bredman's church nearly half-way down Mercery-lane;
and the remains of the palace of Sir Thomas More, in
the dancing-school yard in Orange-street, are now used
as a warehouse for wool: in other parts of the city the
houses are  in general handsome, and many of them
modern and well built.
The environs are pleasant, and the surrounding scenery
is agreeably diversified with simple and picturesque
beauty: on the road leading into the Isle of Thanet
are extensive barracks for cavalry, artillery, and infantry
of the line: the cavalry barracks, erected in 1794, at
an expense of £40,000, are a handsome range of brick
building, occupying three sides of a quadrangle, and,
with the several parades and grounds for exercise, comprise
sixteen acres, enclosed with lofty iron palisades:
the barracks for two thousand infantry, erected near the
former in 1798, have been since made a permanent
station for detachments of the royal horse and foot
artillery: the barracks erected on the site of St. Gregory's
priory, and in other parts of the city, have been
taken down, and new streets of small houses occupy
their places! To the south is Dane John Field, so called
from a lofty conical mount said to have been thrown
up by the Danes, when they besieged the city, or, more
probably from its having been the site of a keep or
donjon; it is tastefully laid out in spiral walks and shrubr
beries, and planted with lime-trees: on the city wall,
by which it is bounded to the south-east, is a fine broad
terrace with sloping declivities covered with turf; on
the promenade is a sun-dial, supported on a handsome
marble pedestal, sculptured with emblematical representations
of the seasons, by Mr. Henry Weeks, a native
artist: on the summit of the mount, from which a fine
panoramic view of the city and its environs is obtained,
a stone pillar has been erected, with tablets recording,
among other benefactions, a vote of £ 60 per annum by
the corporation for keeping the promenade in order.
The Philosophical and Literary Institution is a chaste
and elegant edifice of the Ionic order, with a handsome
portico of four columns, erected by subscription in
1825, after the model of a temple on the river Illyssus
in Greece: it comprises a spacious museum, in which
an extensive and valuable collection of minerals, fossils,
and natural curiosities, collected by Mr. W. Masters,
Mrs. Masters, and others, is scientifically arranged in an
order peculiarly adapted to assist the student in natural
history, also an extensive and well assorted library^
and a theatre, in which lectures on literary and scientific
subjects are delivered every Tuesday evening throughout
the year; the museum is open to the public daily,
the price of admission being one shilling each. The
theatre, & neat and commodious edifice, erected by Mrs.
Sarah Baker, was opened in 1790: opposite to it is a
concert-room belonging to the members of the Catch
Glub, in which subscription concerts take place every
Wednesday evening during the winter months. Assemblies
are held in a handsome suite of rooms built by
subscription; and races take place, in the month of
August, upon Barham Downs, within three miles of the
city: the course, on which there is a commodious stand,
has been greatly enlarged.
The manufacture of silk, established by the Walloons
under the auspices of Queen Elizabeth, and which
had flourished in such a degree as to obtain from
Charles I. a charter of incorporation, gave place in 1789
to the introduction of the cotton-manufacture by Mr.
John Callaway, master of the company of weavers, who
discovered a method of interweaving silk with cotton
in a fabric still known by the name of Canterbury, or
Chamberry, muslin; what now remains of the silk
manufacture, employing but few persons, is conducted
by his grandson. A considerable trade in long wool
is carried on, and there is an extensive manufactory for
parchment; but the principal source of employment for
the labouring class is the cultivation of hops, for the
growth of which the soil is peculiarly favourable, and
with extensive plantations of which the neighbourhood
abounds: a great quantity of corn is also produced in
the vicinity, and forms a material part of its trade. The
city is geologically situated on the plastic clay of the
London basin, with which red bricks and tiles are made;
and, at a short distance to the south-east, flint imbedded
jn chalk is found in abundance, from which lime of an
excellent quality is produced. There are numerous mills
on, the banks of the river, several of them extensive, particularly
that called the Abbot's mill, from its having
anciently belonged to the abbey of St. Augustine; it is
now the property of the corporation, by whom it was
purchased in 1543. Canterbury has been long celebrated
for its brawn. Frequent attempts, attended with
considerable expense, have been made to improve the.
navigation of the river Stour: an act was obtained, in
1825, to. make it navigable to Sandwich, and to con-
struct a canal from that port to a harbour to be formed
near Deal, but the undertaking has not yet been commenced..
In the same year an act was obtained for
the formation of a railway to Whitstable, whence
there is a regular conveyance by water to London:
this has been carried into effect, and promises to be of
great advantage to the trade of the city. The market
for cattle, corn, hops, and seeds, is on Saturday,
and the market for provisions daily: the cattle market
is held on the site of the ancient city moat, in
the: parish of St. George without the walls; the corn,
hop, and seed market is held in a spacious room in
the Corn and Hop Exchange, a handsome building of
the composite order, recently erected, and ornamented
with the city arms and appropriate devices, behind
which is a spacious area for the daily market for
meat and vegetables; the market for eggs, poultry,
and butter, is held in the ancient butter market, near
Christ Church gate; and there is a convenient marketplace'for
fish in St.Margaret's street: these markets
are under the regulation of the corporation, by an act
passed in 1824. The annual Michaelmas fair commences
on, the 10th of October, and continues during three
market days.
The city, which at the time of the Conquest was
governed by a pr&positus, or prefect, appointed by the
king, received from Henry II. a charter conferring peculiar
privileges, in addition to those it previously enjoyed.
Henry III. granted the city to the inhabitants
at a fee-farm rent of £ 60, and empowered the citizens
to elect two bailiffs, who were superseded by a mayor
in the reign of Henry VI., who granted them the privilege
of choosing a coroner. Edward IV. confirmed
the preceding charters, remitted more than one-fourth
of the fee-farm rent, and constituted the city a county
of itself. Henry VII. limited the number of aldermen
to twelve, and the common council-men to twentyfour;
and Henry VIII., by an act in the 35th of
his reign, empowered the mayor and aldermen to levy
a fine of six shillings and eightpence per day upon
all strangers who should keep shops, or exercise any
trade in the city. James I,, in the sixth year of his
reign, confirmed all the former charters and privileges,
and re-incorporated the citizens, under the title of the
mayor and commonalty of the city of Canterbury. The
government, under these several charters, is  vested
in a mayor, recorder, twelve aldermen (including a
chamberlain and sheriff), and twenty-four common
council-men, assisted by a town-clerk, who  is also
coroner, a sword-bearer, mace-bearer, four Serjeants at
mace, and subordinate officers. The mayor is chosen
on Holy-rood day by the freemen, from among the
twelve aldermen, who nominate two of their own body
for election, and is sworn into office on the festival of
St. Michael; the aldermen are selected from the common
council-men by a majority of their own body,
and the common council-men are chosen from the
resident freemen, in the same manner; the sheriff is
chosen annually by a majority of the mayor and aldermen,
from among the twelve aldermen; and the recorder,
chamberlain, and town-clerk, are elected by a
majority of the corporation. The mayor, recorder, and
such of the aldermen' as have passed the chair, are
justices of the peace. The freedom of the city is inherited
by birth,.or acquired by servitude, gift, marriage
with a freeman's daughter, and by purchase. The
power of purchasing their freedom was allowed to
English-born Jews in 1829. The city is divided into
six wards, named after the six ancient gates, over each
of which two aldermen preside, who hold a court leet,
with view of frankpledge, in October, when a constable,
borseholder, and six commissioners of pavements are
appointed for each ward. The corporation hold a court
of burghmote on the first Tuesday in every month, at
which the mayor or his deputy presides, assisted by
the aldermen and common council-men, a majority of
each of whom is necessary to constitute a court: this
court, which is a court of record, and has been held
from time, immemorial, is convened by the blowing of
a horn. They also hold courts of quarter session for
the trial of capital offenders and misdemeanants, and
a court of petty session.on the first Thursday in every
month, for determining minor offences. The mayor's
court, which is also a court of record, is but rarely
held; the last instance of its exercising jurisdiction in
civil pleas was in February 1793. A court of requests
is held every Thursday, under an act passed in the 25th
of George II., for the recovery of debts under 40s.,
within the .city and liberties; but the precincts of the
cathedral, the archbishop's palace, St. Augustine's abbey,
and other privileged places, are exempted from its jurisdiction.
The guildhall is an ancient and lofty building,
containing the various court-rooms for holding the city
sessions, and apartments for transacting the business of
the corporation; the interior is decorated with portraits
of the most distinguished benefactors to the city, and with
various pieces of ancient armour. In 1453, Henry VI.
granted to. the corporation the custody of his gaol at
Westgate, which gate from that time at least, if not
previously, has been used as a city gaol; considerable
additions have been recently made to it, and a house for
the gaoler was erected in 1829, in a style corresponding
with the character of the original building; airing-yards
have latelybeen formed, and other improvements effected.
The city has continued to return two members to parliament
since the 23rd of .Edward I.; the right of election
is vested in the freemen at large, the number of whom
is about two thousand; the sheriff is the returning
officer. The quarter sessions for the eastern division
of the county are regularly held here, and the petty
sessions on the first Saturday in every month; and
a king's commission of sewers, having jurisdiction over
the several limits of East Kent, sits four times in the
year at the sessions-house. The sessions-house, and
common gaol and house of correction, form an extensive
pile of building within the precinct of the abbey of
St. Augustine; the latter comprises nine divisions, with
day-rooms and airing yards for the classification of prisoners,
who are employed at the tread-wheels, and in
various kinds of productive labour.
The primacy, though immediately delegated by the
pope to the see of Canterbury, was not maintained without
considerable difficulty; its establishment was violently opposed
by the native British prelates, who refused to acknowledge
the supremacy either of the archbishop or
the pope. Offa, King of Mercia, attempted to divide the
jurisdiction, and the archbishops of York persevered in asserting their claims;
but the archbishop of Canterbury was ultimately acknowledged
Primate and Metropolitan of all England.
In this dignity he ranks as first peer of the realm, and,
with the exception of the royal family, takes precedence
of all the nobility and chief officers of state; at coronations
he places the crown upon the head of the
sovereign; the bishops of London, Winchester, Lincoln,
and Rochester, are respectively his provincial dean,
subdean, chancellor, and chaplain; he is a privy councillor
in right of his primacy, and has the power of conferring
degrees in the several faculties of divinity, law,
and physic, except within the immediate jurisdiction of
the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The province
of Canterbury comprehends the sees of twentyone
bishops, including the four Welch sees: the diocese
comprises two hundred and sixty-nine parishes in the
county of Kent; and nearly one hundred parishes in
that and other counties are in the peculiar jurisdiction
of the archbishop. The ecclesiastical establishment consists
of an archbishop, dean, archdeacon, twelve prebendaries,
six preachers, six minor canons, six substitutes,
twelve lay clerks, ten choristers, two masters, fifty
scholars, and twelve almsmen. The cathedral, dedicated
to our Saviour, originally the church of the monastery
founded by St. Augustine, on the site of the palace of
Ethelbert, King of Kent, rebuilt by Archbishop Lanfranc
soon after the Conquest, and enlarged and enriched by
several of his successors, is a magnificent and splendid
structure, exhibiting in their highest perfection the
richest specimens in every style of architecture, from the
earliest Norman to the latest English, and is equally
conspicuous for the justness of its proportions, the correctness
of its details, and the richness of its decoration.
Its form is that of a double cross, with a lofty and elegant
tower rising from the intersection of the nave and the
western transepts, in the later style of English architecture,
with a pierced parapet and pinnacles, and having
octagonal turrets at the angles, terminating in minarets.
At the west end are two massive towers, of which the
north-west is in the Norman style, and the south-west,
though crowned with battlements, is of similar character,
and little inferior to the central tower: between the
western towers is a narrow entrance, through a sharply
pointed arch, with deeply receding mouldings, surmounted
by canopied niches, over which is a lofty and magnificent
window of six lights, decorated with richly stained glass
representing figures of the saints. The south-west porch,
which is the principal entrance, is a highly enriched specimen
of the later style, and is profusely ornamented
with niches of elegant design; the roof is elaborately
groined, and at the intersections of the ribs are numerous
shields. The nave, which, with the western transepts,
is also in the later style, is peculiarly fine; the roof
is richly groined, and supported by eight lofty piers,
which on each side separate it from the aisles, and of
which the clustered shafts are banded, like those of the
early English: the eastern part derives a grandeur of
effect from the numerous avenues leading from it to the
various chapels in different parts of the interior; of these
the chapel of Henry IV. is conspicuous for the elegant
simplicity of its design, and the beautiful fan tracery depending
from the roof; the lady chapel, separated from
the eastern side of the transept by a finely carved stone
screen, is small, but exquisitely beautiful the chapel of
the Holy Trinity, in which was the gorgeous shrine of
St. Thomas a Becket, opens into that part of the cathedral
called Becket's Crown, where is preserved the ancient
stone chair in which the archbishops are enthroned:
there are various other chapels equally deserving attention.
A triple flight of steps leads from the nave
into the choir, which are separated by a stone screen
of exquisite workmanship: the roof, which is plainly
groined, is supported on slender-shafted columns, alternately
circular and octagonal, with highly enriched capitals
of various designs; this part of the structure is
chiefly in the early English, intermixed with the Norman,
style, which prevails also in the triforium, and other
parts of the choir, and in the eastern transept: the archbishop's
throne, on the south side of the choir near the
centre, and the stalls of the dean and prebendaries, are
strikingly elegant; a new altar-piece, in accordance with
the prevailing style of architecture, has been recently
erected with the Caen stone of St. Augustine's monas^
tery: the whole length of the cathedral from east to
west is five hundred and fourteen feet, the length of the
choir one hundred and eighty, the length of the eastern
transepts one hundred and fifty-four, and the length of
the western one hundred and twenty-four. Under the
whole building is a spacious and elegant crypt, the severalparts
of which correspond with those of the cathedral;
the western part is in the Norman style, and the
eastern in the early style of English architecture: the
vaulted roof is about fourteen feet in height, and supported
on massive pillars, of which the prevailing character
is simplicity and strength, though occasionally
sculptured with foliage and grotesque ornaments. Near
the south end of the western transept, Edward the
Black Prince, in 1363, founded a chantry, and endowed
it for two chaplains with his manor of Vauxhall, near
London; there are some remains of the chapel, consisting
of.the vaulting of the roof, supported.on one central
column: near the centre of the crypt are the remains
of the chapel of the Virgin, in a niche, at the. east end
of which was her statue, supported on a pedestal sculptured
in basso relievo with various subjects, among
which the Annunciation may be distinctly traced. The
western part is still called the French church, from its
haying been given by Queen Elizabeth to the Walloons
and the French refugees, and from the service being still
performed there in the French language. The cathedral
contains many splendid and interesting, monuments, and
other memorials of the archbishops, deans, and other
dignitaries of the church, and of illustrious persons who
have been interred within its walls. In the arches surrounding
the chapel of the Holy Trinity are, the tomb
of Henry IV. and his queen, Joan of Navarre, whose
recumbent figures, arrayed in royal robes, and crowned,
are finely sculptured in alabaster; the monument of Edward
the Black Prince, whose effigy in complete armour
and in a recumbent posture, with the arms raised
in the attitude of prayer, is finely executed in gilt brass,
tod surmounted by a rich canopy, in which are his
gauntlets and the scabbard of his sword; and the cenotaph
of Archbishop Courteney, with a recumbent figure
of that prelate in his pontificals. In the north aisle
of .the choir are the splendid monuments of the archbishops
Chicheley and Bourchier. In the chapel of the
Virgin are monuments to the memory of six of the
deans; and in that of St. Michael are those of the Earl
of Somerset, and the Duke of Clarence, second son
of Henry IV., whose effigy, with that of the duchess
in her robes and coronet, is beautifully sculptured in
inarble; also the monuments of Archbishop Langton
and Admiral Sir George Rooke. In the south aisle
of the choir are those of the Archbishops Reynolds,
Walter Kemp, Stratford, Sudbury, and Meopham; and
within an iron palisade, on the north side of Becket's
Crown, is the tomb of Cardinal Pole, the last of the
archbishops who were buried in the cathedral: there
are several monuments in the crypt, among which are
some to the most distinguished individuals that have
been connected with the county. The precincts of the
cathedral comprehend aft area three quarters of a mile
in circumference: the principal entrance is on the south
side, through Christ Church gate, erected by Prior
Goldstone, in 1517, and exhibiting, though greatly mutilated,
an elegant specimen of the later style of English
architecture; the front is richly sculptured, and ornamented
with canopied niches, and consists of two
octangular embattled towers, with a larger and a smaller
arched entrance between them, the wooden doors of
which are carved with the arms of the see, and those
of Archbishop Juxon. On the north side is the library,
containing a valuable collection of books, and a series
of Grecian and Roman coins; in the centre is an octagonal
table of black marble, on which is sculptured the
history of Orpheus, surrounded with various hunting
pieces, A passage from the north transept of the
cathedral, to the library, leads into a circular room
called " Bell Jesus," the lower part of which is of Norman
character; it is lighted'by a dome in the centre, under
which is placed the font, removed from the nave of the
cathedral. On the east side of the cloisters is the
chapter-house, a spacious and elegant building, containing
a hall ninety-two feet in length, thirty-seven in
width, and fifty-four in height; on the sides are the
ancient stone seats of the monks, surmounted by a
range-of trefoil-headed arches supporting a cornice and
battlement; the east and west windows are large, and
enriched with elegant tracery, and the roof of oak is
pannelled, and decorated with shields of arms and
other ornaments. The cloisters form a spacious quadrangle,
on each side of which are handsome windows
of four lights; the vaulted stone roof is elaborately
groined, and ornamented at the points of intersection
with more than seven hundred shields; against the
north wall is a range of stone seats, separated from
each other by pillars supporting canopied arches; on
the east side are, a doorway leading into the cathedral,
highly enriched, and an archway leading to the chapterhouse;
on the west side is an arched entrance to the
archbishop's palace, the only remains of which are the
porter's gallery and the surveyor's house. The treasury
is a fine building in the Norman style of architecture,
the staircase to which, in the same style, is of
very curious design.
The city comprises the parishes of All Saints, St.
Alphege, St. Andrew, St. George, the Holy Cross, St.
Margaret, St. Martin, St. Mary Bredman, St. Mary Bredin,
St. Mary Magdalene, St. Mary Northgate, St. Mildred,
St. Peter, and St. Paul, all in the diocese, and, with
the exception of St. Alphege and St. Martin, in the
archdeaconry, of Canterbury. The living of All Saints'
is a rectory, with which that of St. Mary in the Castle
is consolidated, rated together in the king's books at
£80, and united with that of St. Mildred's, rated in the
king's books at £17. 17. 11., and in the patronage of
the Crown. The living of the parish of St. Alphege is
a rectory, exempt from archidiaconal visitation, and
united with the vicarage of St. Mary Northgate, the
former rated in the king's books at £8. 13. 4., and the
latter at £11. 19. 4., and in the patronage of the
Archbishop. The living of St. Andrew's is a rectory,
with that of St. Mary's Bredman'united, rated together
in the king's books at £22. 6. 8., endowed with £400
private benefaction, and in the patronage of the Archbishop
for two turns, and the Dean and Chapter for
one. The living of St. George's the Martyr is a rectory,
with that of St. Mary Magdalene united, the
former rated in the king's books at £7. 17. 11., and the
latter at £4. 10., in the patronage of the Dean and
Chapter. The living of St. Margaret's is a donativej
endowed with £200 parliamentary grant, and in the
patronage of the Archdeacon. The living of St. Martin's
is a rectory, exempt from archidiaconal visitation,
and united with the vicarage of St. Paul's, the former
rated in the king's books at £6. 5. 2., and the latter
at £9. 18. 9., and in the alternate patronage of the
Archbishop and the Dean and Chapter. The living
of St. Mary's Bredin is a vicarage, rated in the king's
books at £4. 1. 5., endowed with £1000 private benefaction,
£200 royal bounty, and £2000 parliamentary
grant,  and in the patronage of H. Lee Warner, Esq.
The living of St. Peter's is a rectory, with the vicarage
of the Holy Cross united, the former rated in the king's
books' at £3.10. 10., and the latter at £13. 0. 2., in
the alternate patronage of the Archbishop and the Dean
and Chapter. Of the several churches, few possess any
distinguishing architectural features; that of St. Martin
is said to have been founded during the occupation
of Canterbury by the Romans, and consecrated for the
celebration of the Christian service prior to the conversion
of Ethelbert. There are places of worship for Baptists,
the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyan
Methodists, and a synagogue.
The king's free grammar school, coeval with the establishment
of the cathedral, was founded by Henry VIII.
for fifty scholars from all parts of the kingdom; the
management is vested in the Dean and Chapter: belonging
to it are two scholarships, of £3. 6. 8. per annum
each, for natives of Kent, founded in Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge, and endowed with a portion of the
revenue of Eastbridge hospital, by Archbishop Whitgift,
in 1569; one of three exhibitions, of about £15 per
annum each, founded in the same college by Archbishop
Parker, in 1575, in the nomination of the Dean
and Chapter, for such of the sons of their Norfolk, Suffolk,
and Lincolnshire tenants as are educated in this
school; a medical scholarship, founded by the same
archbishop in Caius College, Cambridge, for a native of
Canterbury educated at any of the schools in that city;.
and one of three scholarships founded in the same college,
by John Parker, Esq., in 1580, in the patronage of the
Archbishop, for a native of Canterbury educated at the
king's school: it has also four scholarships at either university,
founded in 1618 by Robert Rose, Esq., who endowed
them with twenty-six acres of land in Romney Marsh;
two exhibitions to any college in Cambridge, founded in
1625 by William Heyman, Esq., for scholars descended
from his grandfather, tenable for seven years from the
time of their leaving school, and, in the event of their
taking orders, to be continued for three years longer; four
scholarships, of £10 per annum each, established in St.
John's College, Cambridge, by a decree of the court of
Chancery, in 1652, in lieu of two fellowships and two
scholarships founded in that college by Henry Robinson,
Esq., in 1643, for natives of the Isle of Thanet, or, in
failure of such, for boys in the county, if educated at
this school; five exhibitions, of £ 24 per annum each,
to Emanuel College, Cambridge, for bachelors of arts
until they proceed to their master's degree, with preference
to the sons of orthodox clergymen of this diocese,
founded in 1719 by Dr. George Thorpe, prebendary of
Canterbury; two Greek scholarships, of £8 per annum
each, founded in the same college by the Rev. John
Brown, B. D.; and one exhibition, of £ 9 per annum,
to any college in Cambridge, to cease on taking the degree
of M.A., founded in 1728 by Dr. George Stanhope;
Dean of Canterbury. A society of gentlemen educated
at the King's school, established for more than a century,
hold an anniversary meeting, when, after service
at the cathedral, where a sermon suitable to the occasion
is delivered by a clergyman educated in the school,
a collection is made for the purpose of founding additional
scholarships for students in this establishment;
by the liberality and exertions of its members a fund
has been raised, that has enabled them to found an exhibition
of £60 per annum, to be held for four years
with any of the preceding; and another of the same
value is about to be added to the numerous advantages
enjoyed by scholars on this foundation, which, from the
zealous attention bestowed upon its management by the
Dean and Chapter, promises at least to preserve, if not
to increase, the high reputation it has so long maintained;
in addition to the annual examinations previously
established, quarterly examinations, of which the
first took place in November 1829, have been instituted
under two of the prebendaries, chosen for that office.
Among the eminent men who have received the rudiments
of their education in this school may be noticed
the celebrated Dr. Harvey, who discovered the circulation
of the blood; Dr. Marsh, Bishop of Peterborough;
and Lord Tenterden, the present Lord Chief
Justice of; the court of King's Bench. The Blue-coat
school was established by the mayor and commonalty,
to whom Queen Elizabeth had granted an hospital
founded prior to the year 1243, by Simon de Langton,
Archdeacon of Canterbury, for poor priests, with all the
lands belonging to it, which, by an act passed in the 1st
of George II., was, for the use of the poor, transferred
to guardians incorporated by the same act, upon their
undertaking also to provide for sixteen poor boys of the
city, to be called Blue-coat boys: the estate at present
produces £795. 8. 6. per annum; and sixteen boys, nominated
by the mayor and commonalty, are clothed,
maintained, and instructed in reading, writing, and
arithmetic, and, on leaving school, are apprenticed with
premiums, which, though originally fixed at £5, are, according
to circumstances, increased to £21. The Greycoat
school is supported by the Dean and Chapter, the
mayor and commonalty, and other subscribers: two
boys and one girl are annually apprenticed from this
school by the trustees of Nixon's charity. Two
schools, for children of both sexes, are conducted on
Dr. Bell's plan, having been united to the National
Society in 1812, in which upwards of four hundred
children are instructed.
Eastbridge hospital is supposed to have been founded
by Archbishop Lanfranc, for the entertainment of
pilgrims, and endowed by succeeding archbishops, for
a master, five brothers, and five sisters resident, and an
equal number of non-resident brothers and sisters, above
the age of fifty, who must have lived in the city or
suburbs for seven years; the former receive £20 per
annum, and the latter £2. 16. 8. per annum, each: the
vacancies are filled by nomination of the mayor, who
appoints two candidates, one of whom is elected by the
master. A school for twenty children was annexed to it
by an ordinance of Archbishop Whitgift, confirmed by
act of parliament in the 27th of Elizabeth; it is endowed
with a manor and an estate at Blean, and with, an
investment of £2624 in the three per cent, consols.,
arising from legacies and fines for the renewal of leases:
the present income is £331. 15. 10.: the master of the
hospital has an annual income of £90. 18. 7., calculated
upon an average balance of receipts and expenditure
-for several years; the schoolmaster has a salary of
£30 per annum, with apartments in the hospital; there
are thirty scholars at present in the school. Maynard's
hospital was founded, about the year 1312, by Mayner le
Rich, an opulent citizen, who endowed it with lands and
tenements for the support of three unmarried brothers,
one of whom is prior and reader, and four unmarried
sisters: they are a corporate body by prescription,
having a common seal, and, exclusively of their apartments,
and share of fines for the renewal of leases, receive
each £18. 2. 6. per annum from the general funds.
Cotton's'hospital, adjoining, was founded in 1605, by
Leonard Cotton, who endowed it for one aged widower
and two widows, who receive £18. 11. 6. per annum
each. These hospitals, which are united, are under the
management of the mayor and aldermen, of whom the
senior alderman is generally appointed master; the
right of appointing the brothers and sisters is vested in
the mayor. Jesus' hospital was founded, in 1596, by
Sir John Boys, the first recorder of the city, for a warden,
nine brothers, and nine sisters, above fifty-five years
of age, and resident within the city for seven years,
with preference to one brother and one sister of the kindred
of the founder, if above the age of fifty: there are at
present eight brothers and four sisters, who receive each
a fixed sum of £20 per annum, and a considerable amount
as surplus money: by the statutes, the warden is bound
to instruct twenty children of the parishes of St. Mary
Northgate, St. Paul, St. Mildred, St. Alphege, and St.
Dunstan, who are called out-brothers, and clothed at
the expense of the establishment; six of them are to be
apprenticed annually: the mayor and aldermen, the
Dean of Christ Church, and the Archdeacon of Canterbury,
are visitors, and audit the accounts annually. The
Rev. George Hearne, in 1805, bequeathed £37 per annum,
long annuities, for the support of a Sunday school
for the parishes of St. Alphege and St. Mary Northgate,
which was sold in 1812 for £637. 5., and appropriated
to the purchase and adaptation of a building for
a National school, in which fifty-six children of those
parishes are instructed. Mr. Robert Dean purchased
premises for the use of a Sunday school in the parish
of the Holy Cross, which he then endowed with £200
stock, and in 1818 left £800 in the four per cents., as a
further endowment for teaching children on the other
days of the week: there are also several smaller bequests
for the instruction of poor children in the various parishes.
St. John's hospital, without the North gate, was founded
in 1084, by Archbishop Lanfranc, who endowed it with
£70 per annum for poor infirm, lame, and blind men.
women; at the time of the dissolution its revenue
was £93.15., and it is now nearly £200: the establishment
consists of a prior, reader, fifteen brothers, and
fifteen sisters resident, who receive each £ 8 per annum,
with a' share of some legacies left in trust to the corporation;
and three brothers and three sisters non-resident,
who receive something less, and do not participate in
the legacies: the archbishop has the exclusive patronage,
and appoints the master and prior. John Smith,
Esq., in 1644, bequeathed £200 to build almshouses,
and £32 per annum for their endowment. Smith's
hospital, in the suburb of Langport, without the liberties
of the city, for four brothers and four sisters born
within the manor of Barton, was founded in 1662, by
Mrs. Ann Smith, who endowed it with lands, and with
a reserved rent payable by the proprietor of Barton
Court, who has the sole patronage, amounting together
to £171; 7. 4. per annum, of which sum she appropriated
£32 to the inmates of the hospital; £20 to the
apprenticing of poor children of Hornsey, in the county
of Middlesex; £20 to the minister of St. Paul's, in this
city; and the residue to the apprenticing of children of
that parish, with which eight children are placed out
annually. Cogan's hospital was founded, in 1657, by
Mr. John Cogan, who, by will, gave his mansion to the
corporation in trust, for the residence of six clergymen's
widows; the endowment has been augmented by
numerous subsequent benefactions. The Rev. John
Aucher, D.D., by deed, in 1696, gave a rent-charge of
£60 for six clergymen's widows, with preference to
those in Cogan's hospital; and a society raises annually
by subscription, £36, which is divided among
three widows of clergymen. Harris' almshouses, in
Wincheap, were founded in 1726, by Thomas Harris,
Esq., who endowed them with houses and land producing
£21 per annum, for five poor families, two of
the parish of St. Mary Magdalene, two of that of Thanington,
and one of St. Mildred, not receiving parochial
aid. The Kent and Canterbury infirmary was opened
for the reception of patients on the 26th of April, 1793,
under the auspices of the late Dr. William Carter, and
patronised by the principal inhabitants of the city and
county: the institution;s liberally supported by annual
subscriptions of £2. 2., which sum (or a donation
of £21) constitutes a governor; it is well regulated
under the direction of a committee and a weekly board
for superintending the domestic arrangements. The
building, which is spacious and well adapted to the
purpose, was erected on part of the ancient cemetery
of St. Augustine's abbey, and contains apartments for
a house surgeon and sixty patients, the latter receiving
the gratuitous attendance of two physicians and four
surgeons.
Of the numerous monastic establishments that
anciently flourished here, the principal was the abbey
which St. Augustine, in conjunction with King Ethelbert,
founded for monks of the Benedictine order,
and dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul, the revenue
of which, at the dissolution, was £1412. 4. 7.: the
remains consist principally of the gateway entrance,
a beautiful specimen of the decorated style of English
architecture, with two embattled octagonal turrets
highly ornamented with canopied niches, and enriched
with bands, mouldings, and cornices; between
these turrets is the entrance, through a finely
pointed arch, in which are the 'original wooden doors
richly carved. One of the towers, called St. Ethelbert's
tower, was a fine structure in the Norman style, highly
ornamented in its successive stages with a series of intersecting
arches; part of it fell down in 1822, and part
has been since taken down from apprehension of danger;
a portion of the base of the tower, and some trifling remains
of the church belonging to the abbey, are still
existing. At the north-west of the cemetery are the
remains of the chapel of St. Pancras, rebuilt in 1387,
on the site of a previous chapel, said to have been a
pagan temple, resorted to by Ethelbert before his conversion:
the remains of this once splendid abbey have
been converted into a public-house; the gateway is
now a brewery, the room over it a cock-pit, the church
a tennis-court, and the area a bowling-green. In Northgate-
street was a religious house, founded in 1084, by
Archbishop Lanfranc, for secular priests, and dedicated
to St. Gregory, the revenue of which, at the dissolution,
was £166. 4. 5.: the remains, consisting of parts of
the walls, arches, and some windows in the Norman
and early English styles of architecture, have been converted
into a pottery, and a tobacco-pipe manufactory.
To the south-east of the city was a Benedictine nunnery,
founded by Archbishop Anselm, and dedicated to St.
Sepulchre, the revenue of which, at the dissolution, was
£38. 19. 7: this convent obtained celebrity from the
pretended inspiration of Elizabeth Barton, one of the
nuns, called the holy maid of Kent, who, for denouncing
the wrath of the Almighty upon Henry VIII.,
for his intended divorce of Catherine of Arragon, was
hanged at Tyburn, with her confederate, Richard Deering,
cellarer of Christ Church. To the right of the
city, on the road to Dovor, was an hospital dedicated
to St. Lawrence, for leprous monks, founded by Hugh,
Abbot of St. Augustine's, in 1137, and endowed for a
warden, chaplain, clerk, and sixteen brothers and sisters,
of whom the senior sister was prioress: the revenue, at
the dissolution, was £39. 8. 6. In the parish of St.
Peter was an hospital, founded by William Cockyn,
citizen, and dedicated to St. Nicholas and St. Catherine,
which, in 1203, was united to that of St. Thomas Eastbridge.
In the parish of St. Alphege was a priory of
Dominicans, or Black friars, founded about the year
1221 by Henry III., the only remains of which are the
hall, now a meeting-house for Baptists; and near the
hospital for poor priests was a priory of Franciscans,
or Grey friars, founded by the Same monarch in 1224,
which was the first house of that order established in
the kingdom; the remains consist chiefly of some low
walls and arches: there are also slight vestiges of a
convent of White friars that once existed here. Numerous
relics of British and Roman antiquity have
been discovered; among the latter are, aqueducts
tesselated pavements, vases, and coins; and a Roman
arch, called Worthgate, considered to be one of the
finest and most ancient structures of the kind in
England, has been carefully removed from that part
of the castle yard which was crossed by the new road
from Ashford, and reconstructed in a private garden.
There are some chalybeate springs, and one slightly sulphureous,
in the extensive nursery-grounds of Mr. W.
Masters, near the west gate; and without the north gate is
a fine spring of water, where a bath, called St. Rhadigurid's
bath, has been constructed, with requisite accommodation.
Dr. Thomas Linacre, founder of the Royal
College of Physicians, in London; Dr. Thomas Nevile,
master of Magdalene College, and afterwards master of
Trinity College, Cambridge, who was sent by Archbishop
Whitgift to tender the English crown to King James;
William Somner, author of the Antiquities of Canterbury,
and of a Saxon Glossary; and W. Frend, M, A.,
author of the Ephemeris, were natives of this city.
Among other literary characters that have flourished
here may be noticed the Primate Langton, who first
divided the Old and New Testaments into chapters;
Osbern, a monk in the eleventh century, who wrote in
Latin the life of St. Dtinstan, and who, from his skill in
music, was called the English Jubal; and John Bale, Prebendary
of Canterbury and Bishop of Ossory, the Protestant
historian and biographer. Isaac Casaubon, whom,
on account of his learning, James I. invited over from
France, and Meric, his son, were both installed prebendaries.