Bell's Cathedrals: The Church of St. Martin, Canterbury: An Illustrated Account of its History and FabricRoutledge, C. F. (Charles Francis)
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Church of St. Martin, Canterbury: An Illustrated Account of its History and Fabric
Routledge, C. F. (Charles Francis)
St. Martin's Church (Canterbury, England)
The elegance of some of the enamelled brooches and rings, together
with other discoveries, point to a considerable degree of luxury and
civilisation. One writer fancied that he detected the remains of raised
seats for spectators at a circus or amphitheatre in the so-called Martyr's
Field, near the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway Station.
The exact dimensions and extent of the city are open to some doubt. Mr
T. Godfrey Faussett fixed the site of the four gates as follows:--(1)
_Worth Gate_, at the end of Castle Street; (2) _Riding Gate_, on the old
road to Dover; (3) _North Gate_, near the present south-west tower of the
Cathedral; and (4) a gate _at the Ford_, in Beer Cart Lane. Tracing the
walls that lie between them, he concluded that the shape of the Roman
town was an irregular oval, different from the usual square or rectangle,
but accounted for by the low swampy ground that surrounded it, and not
unlike the shape of Verulam and Anderida. The city's length, according
to his plan, must have been nearly exactly double its breadth--namely
800 yards by 400.
[Illustration: FROM A PLAN DRAWN BY T. GODFREY FAUSSETT.]
For actual existing buildings that may possibly have been connected with
the Roman occupation, we must have recourse to the _churches_, which
supply us with traces of early Christianity more rich and numerous than
that of any other town in England. These are to be found in St. Martin's,
St. Pancras, and a church on the site of the present Cathedral. Detailed
investigation of them would bring us to some controversial points, for
the discussion of which one must be thoroughly conversant with all the
recent discoveries and explorations that have been made. But we may,
at any rate, state the _documentary_ evidence.
With regard to _St. Martin's_ Church, we have already quoted the statement
made by the Venerable Bede.
The same historian also informs us that Augustine, "when the Episcopal
See was granted to him in the royal city, recovered therein, supported by
the king's assistance, a church which, he was informed, had been built
by the ancient work of Roman believers; and consecrated it in the name
of our Holy Saviour, God and Lord, Jesus Christ."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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