Barton Hall

Barton Hall was sold by Christopher Noles' daughter and co-heir, to Thomas Culpeper (possibly Sir Thomas Culpeper¹⁰ of Bedgebury, or Sir Thomas Culpeper¹¹ of Wakehurst) on whose decease his son had livery of it in the reign of Philip and Mary (1553-1558). (Hasted II-147)
(If this house is still standing, a photograph is desired.)

Greyfriars

Anne Culpeper, widow of Henry Agar, Esq., by her will in 1532 ordered to be buried at the Friar's Observant's at Canterbury if she died there. (Hasted II-147)
According to the Greyfriars House website (from which the photograph at the right was copied), a recent restoration has modernised the facilities whilst retaining the historical features, which date back to the 12th Century, when the first Franciscan monks built Greyfriars House as the gatehouse to their Monastery

Canterbury, Kent

1831 Topographical Dictionary:
CANTERBURY, an ancient city, having separate jurisdiction, locally in the hundred of Bridge and Pethar, 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 Dover, 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, and which they called Durovernum, a name obviously derived from the British Dwr a stream, and whern swift, an appellation characteristic of the Stour, upon which it is situated. From this station three roads branched off to Rhutupis, Dubrœ, and Lemanum, now Richborough, Dover, and Limne respectively. 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: Bertha of France, queen of Ethelbert, having been educated in the principles of Christianity, was by treaty allowed the free exercise of her religion, and suffered to bring over with her a limited number of ecclesiastics. During the occupation of the city by the Romans, the Christian religion had been partially promulgated; and in the second century, two churches having been built, one of them, on Bertha's arrival, was consecrated for her use by the Bishop of Soissons, and dedicated to St. Martin. In Ethelbert's reign, 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 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 it 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, [p.338] the inhabitants, by the advice of Archbishop Siricius, purchased a peace for the sum of £30,000, binding them by 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 Cantuariæ,” 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 greater splendour, and dedicated to the Holy Trinity, by Aichbishop 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 à 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, whereby it 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 Edwrd 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 à 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 city 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 numcrous 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 then remaining, 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 refugee silk weavers 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 the city 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's 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 [p.339] 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, for each of which, an approach has been cut through the city walls. The principal streets, intersecting at right angles, and the smaller streets, were originally paved 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 of the town 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. Orangestreet, 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 agreeably diversified with simple and picturesque beauty: on the road to 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 place. 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 shrubberies, 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, is scientifically arranged in an order peculiarly adapted to assist the student in natural history, 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 gratuitously open to the public daily. The theatre, a neat and commodious edifice, erected by Mrs. Sarah Baker, was first opened in 1790; opposite to it is a concert-room belonging to the members of the Catch Club, 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; the small remains of the silk manufacture, at present employing but few persons, is conducted by his grandson: a considerable trade in long wool is carried on; 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 cultivated 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 in 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, having been purchased by them 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 construct 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 recently erected, in the composite order, ornamented with the city arms and appropriate devices, behind which is a spacious area for the daily [p.340] 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 market-place 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 a week.
    The city, which at the time of the Conquest was governed by a prœpositus, 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 of the common council-men to twenty-four; and Henry VIII., by act of parliament 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, chamberlain, sheriff, twelve aldermen, 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 common council-men; 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 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 frank-pledge, 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 Saturday in every month, for 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 precinets 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 the 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 lately been 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, hold a session 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 [p.341] 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, sub-dean, 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 fifty-seven 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 à 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 of 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 design; 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 monastery: 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 several parts 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, endowing 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 column in the centre: near the centre of the crypt are the remains of the chapel of the Virgin, at the east end of which was her statue in a niche, 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 having 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 and surmounted by a rich canopy, in which are his gauntlets and the scabbard of his sword; there is also 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 of 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 marble; here are also the monuments of Archbishop Langton, and of Admiral Sir George Rook. In the south aisle of the choir are those of the Archbishops Reynolds, [p.342] 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 an 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 in the later style of English architecture; the frontis 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 nearly 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 door-way leading into the cathedral highly enriched, and a Norman arch-way leading to the dormitory; on the south side is an arched entrance to the archbishop's palace, the only remains of which are intermixed with the prebendal houses and offices; among these are the treasury, a fine building in the Norman style of architecture, the registry, having a Norman staircase, and the remains of the chapel of the infirmary.
    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. 4½, and in the patronage of the Archbishop. The living of St. Andrew's is a rectory, united with that of St. Mary's Bredman, 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, united with that of St. Mary Magdalene, 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. Peter's is a rectory, united with the vicarage of the Holy Cross; the former rated in the king's-books at £3. 10. 10., and the latter at £13. 0. 2½., in the alternate patronage of the Archbishop and the Dean and Chapter. The living of St. Margaret's is a donative, endowed with £200 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Archbishop. 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. 2½., and the latter at £9. 18. 9., and in the patronage of the Archbishop. The living of St. Mary's Bredin is a vicarage, rated in the king's books at £4. 1. 5½., endowed with £200 private benefaction, £200 royal bounty, and £800 parliamentary grant. H. Lee Warner, Esq. was patron in 1828. Of the several churches, few possess any distinguishing architectural features; that of St. Martin, 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, is remarkable for its great antiquity. There are places of worship for Baptists, 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 Bishop 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 gave twenty-six acres of land in Romney Marsh to endowthem; 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, [p.343] 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 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 under-taking also to provide for sixteen poor boys of the city, to be called Blue-coat boys: the cstate 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 Grey-coat school is principally supported by the Dean and Chapter; the mayor and commonalty give £5 per annum, and there are some other subscriptions: 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. 10½.: the master of the hospital has an annual income of £90. 18. 7¾., 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 Maynor le Riche, 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 Christchurch, 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 [p.344] and women; at the time of the dissolution its revenue was £93. 15., but it is now £195. 8. 9.: 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 £171.7.4½. 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 per annum, for six clergymen's widows, with preference to those in Cogan's hospital; and a society raise 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, and three of the parish of St. Michael, not receiving parochial aid. The Kent and Canterbury Infirmary was opened for the reception of patients on the 1st of September, 1793, under the auspices of Dr. William Carter, and patronised by the principal inhabitants of the city and county; the institution is liberally supported by annual subscriptions of £2. 2., which (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 Ethelbert, whom he converted to Christianity, 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, are now 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 Dover, 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 Cockyer, citizen, and dedicated to St. Nicholas and St. Catherine, which, in 1203, was united to that of St. Thomas East bridge. In the parish of St. Alphege was a priory of Dominican, 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 frequently 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. William Masters, near the west gate; and without the north gate is a fine spring of water, where a bath, called St. Rhadigund's bath, has been constructed, with requisite accommodation. Dr. Thomas Lenacre, founder of the Royal College of Physicians, in London; Dr. Thomas Neville, [p.345] 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. Dunstan, and who, from his skill in music, was called the English Jubal; 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.

Regarding the preceding text from the 1831 Topographical Dictionary, on 16 Apr 2005, Karen Brayshaw (e-mail) wrote: "Eastbridge Hospital and St. Thomas's Hospital are one and the same (renamed after the reformation), which was founded by Edmund, son of Odbert in 1180, and not Archbishop Lanfranc, who had been dead for almost a century. It was indeed co-joined with the hospital of St. Nicolas and St. Katherine, which was founded by William Cockyn. The documents concerning these foundations still exist in Canterbury Cathedral Archives."