Canterbury

A site on the River Stour in southeast England occupied since pre-Roman times. Lying at the intersection of important land routes, Canterbury already had a sizable Belgic settlement before the arrival of the Romans in 43 AD. The town was refounded soon after the invasion as Durovernum, the tribal capital of the Cantiaci, around 49 AD. Traces have been found of a theater (c 210-220), a forum, houses, streets, and a stone wall with earth bank added as fortification c 270-290. There is some evidence of Christian occupation from the 4th century, but the settlement declined sharply after 400, probably following the withdrawal of Roman forces. Archaeological investigations in Canterbury have contributed to an understanding of the secular occupation in Roman towns after the imperial withdrawal from Britain. Excavations have also been carried out on a group of churches which may date to the late 6th or 7th century: St. Augustine's Abbey, St. Martins's, and St. Pancras. Canterbury was an important medieval town and from that time there is a medieval cathedral, an impressive circuit of town walls, a large 12th-century castle, and some of the best preserved timber-framed buildings in England.

[Durovemum Cantiacorum]. Town in Kent, southeast England, occupied from the later Iron Age to the present day. Strategically well-sited at a crossing of the River Stour, and at the intersection of important land routes, Canterbury already had a sizeable Belgic settlement before the arrival of the Romans in ad 43. The town was refounded soon after the invasion as Dur-ovemum, the tribal capital (civitas) of the Cantiaci, probably c49. After a slow start, urbanization went ahead dramatically from the Flavian period (69-96) onwards. Traces have been found of a theatre (rebuilt c210-220), a forum, houses, streets and local industries; a stone wall with earth bank was added as fortification c270-290. There is some evidence of Christian occupation from the 4th century and prosperity seems to have declined sharply after 400, probably following the withdrawal of Roman forces. Canterbury is also an important medieval town, famous firstly as the place to which Saint Augustine came in 597 on his mission to convert the English, and secondly as the greatest pilgrimage centre in the British Isles to which millions flocked throughout the Middle Ages to worship at the shrine of Thomas a Becket, the Archbishop who was murdered in Canterbury in 1170. Archaeological investigations in Canterbury have contributed to our understanding of the continuity of secular occupation in Roman towns after the imperial withdrawal from Britain; in particular, sunken huts and other evidence of the Early Saxon period have been found to overlie the Roman buildings. Excavations have also been carried out on the unique group of churches which may date to the late 6th or 7th century; these are St Augustine’s Abbey, St Martin’s and St Pancras, all of which were built in the Roman as opposed to the insular tradition, with flanking porticuses and apsidal chancels. The later medieval town boasts the magnificent medieval cathedral, an impressive circuit of town walls, a large 12th-century castle and some of the best preserved timber-framed buildings in England.