Bell's Cathedrals: The Church of St. Martin, Canterbury: An Illustrated Account of its History and Fabric — John Shaqi
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)
We come now to a description of the church, which consists of a
rectangular _Nave_, 38 ft. long by 25 ft. wide; a _Chancel_ (in its
present form) 40 ft. by 14 ft.; a tower built in the fourteenth century,
and a modern organ chamber and vestry.
The chancel originally was not as large as it is now, and probably
extended only 18 or 20 ft. from the present chancel arch. An external
buttress on the south side marks its termination, beyond which it has
been conjectured that there was an Eastern apse, as sketched in the
annexed plan.
The first question that naturally suggests itself is with regard to the
=Dedication=. Battely, followed by Hasted, was of opinion that the church
was originally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and afterwards
re-dedicated to St. Martin by Bishop Liudhard. For this statement there
is apparently no authority, yet we must remember that the earliest
dedications of churches were either to the Saviour, the Blessed Virgin,
or one of the twelve Apostles. That the Italian Mission followed generally
this ancient practice is shown in their dedication of the cathedrals
of Canterbury, Rochester, London, and York to Christ, St. Andrew,
St. Paul, and St. Peter respectively--of St. Augustine's Abbey church
to St. Peter and St. Paul, of another church in the same abbey to the
"Holy Mother of God," and also of the early Saxon church in Lyminge to
St. Mary; but it is unnecessary to multiply further instances, the very
rare exceptions to the rule (such as St. Pancras) applying principally
to churches which contained the relics of martyrs. This exception
would not embrace St. Martin's--and Battely's statement, therefore,
from whatever source he derived it, is not intrinsically impossible. We
can say nothing more positive in its favour--but assuming it to be true,
and that the original dedication was forgotten, nothing would be more
natural than that the re-dedication of the church should be to the saintly
Bishop of Tours, made either by Germanus in 429, or Bishop Liudhard,
or even Augustine himself. It is marvellous how widespread was the
influence of St. Martin's name. Nearly 4000 churches are dedicated to
him in France alone, and the largest number of these (in a comparison
of dioceses) is in the part of France nearest to English shores.
[Illustration: PLAN OF ST. MARTIN'S, CANTERBURY, by G. M. Livett.
_Dimensions:_ Nave, 38 by 25 ft.; Chancel, 40 by 14 ft.]
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