Itinerarium curiosum (centuria I) : $b or, an account of the antiquities, and remarkable curiosities in nature or art, observed in travels through Great BritainStukeley, William
History
Itinerarium curiosum (centuria I) : $b or, an account of the antiquities, and remarkable curiosities in nature or art, observed in travels through Great Britain
Stukeley, William
Great Britain -- Antiquities -- Early works to 1800; Great Britain -- Description and travel -- Early works to 1800
demonstrate, and the great compass of ground it took up, incircled with
a very high wall. Great vying was ever here between the religious of
St. Austin and of Tho. à Becket, both very rich and contentious. At
the west end of this church, as I conjecture, were two great towers:
half of one is still remaining, called Ethelbert’s tower: all the whole
stones and pillars about it are skinned off as far as they can reach;
and every year a buttress, a side of an arch, or the like, passes _sub
hasta_. There is part of the other standing, if it can be so said,
that is only not fallen; I call it _muro torto_: it is a vast angular
piece of the tower, about thirty foot high, which has been undermined
by digging away a course at bottom, in order to be thrown down; but it
happened only to disjoint itself from the foundation, and leaping, as
it were, a little space, lodged itself in the ground in that inclining
state, to the wonderment of the vulgar who do not discern the meaning
of it, though the foundation it came from is sufficiently visible: thus
happening to be equally poized, it is a sight somewhat dreadful, and
forbids a too near approach on any side, with the apprehension of its
falling that way. Under St. Ethelbert’s tower is the porch where St.
Augustin and his six successors, as Bede tells us, were interred: the
arched roof is left, but ready to fall: the pavement is gone, in the
middle of which was an altar. The adjacent close is full of religious
ruins and foundations, one great part turned into a stable near the
almery: all over they are busy in pulling it up, to sell the stones;
which generally pays the rent, and yet the tenants of such places
thrive never the more. In one corner of this field are the walls of
a chapel, said to have been a christian temple before St. Augustin’s
time, and reconsecrated by him to St. Pancras: a great apple-tree and
some plum-trees now grow in it: the lower part of it is really old, and
mostly made of Roman brick, and thicker walls than the superstructure:
there is an old Roman arch on the south side toward to altar, the top
of it about as high as one’s nose; so that the ground has been much
raised: the present east window is a pointed arch, though made of Roman
brick, later than St. Austin’s time: near it a little room, said to
have been king Ethelbert’s pagan chapel: however it be, both these and
the wall adjoining are mostly built of Roman brick: the breadth of the
mortar is rather more than the brick, and full of pebbles; but the mark
of the devil’s claws, there observed by the vulgar, is fantastical.
The garden and orchard adjoining seem to lie in their ancient form:
there is a large square mount close by the wall, which it equals in
height, and gives a prospect into the fields. Your lordship has a
huge water-pipe dug up among many other antiquities in a Roman bath
discovered at Canterbury: it is five inches and a half diameter at the
smaller end, seventeen long, seven in diameter at the broad end: they
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account