Showing posts with label Skulferatu #112. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Skulferatu #112. Show all posts

Tuesday 23 January 2024

Skulferatu #112 - St Augustine's Abbey, Longport, Canterbury, Kent


I have been to Canterbury many times, and on my wanders around I usually visit the rather spectacular Cathedral there.  On my most recent visit I decided for a change to have a day outside and go and explore the ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey.

 

A photo of a ruined wall of st Augistine's Abbey, a tree is growing out of the middle of the ruin.  In the foreground are some stumpy remains of other parts of the abbey walls.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
The north wall of the church

 

A photo showing the remains of a thick stone walled building that was part of a tower in the abbey buildings.  A tree is growing out of it and towering over the remains.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Remains of Ethelbert’s Tower

 

Like anyone from the North, I thought it would be nice to be outside on a warm, sunny day.  Of course, I didn’t take into consideration that it would be one of the hottest days of the year, and incredibly humid.  Not being used to that intensity of heat, I spent a lot of my visit seeking out shady places and gulping down lukewarm water from my water bottle.  I really should have invested a little more in one with a double skin, cold water would have been heavenly.

 

Talking about heavenly, St Augustine, who founded St Augustine’s Abbey, was one of the fathers of Christianity in England.  Before he arrived on British shores, there were sects of Christians living there, and there had been since Roman times.  However, it seems they were the wrong sort of Christians.  So, to show the wayward Christians the right path, and convert the hordes of Pagans there, Pope Gregory the Great sent over Augustine, along with a group of monks.  Augustine and his saintly colleagues travelled from Rome, but on arriving in France they were told horrible tales about the hostile and violent people of the British Isles.  Put off by these tales, Augustine considered turning back, but Pope Gregory urged him to carry on.  Arriving in Britain in AD 597, Augustine quickly converted the King of Kent, Ethelbert, to Christianity, a task not too arduous, as the King’s wife was already Christian.  King Ethelbert then granted Augustine land to the east of Canterbury on which to build an abbey, and on this land St Augustine’s Abbey was built.  Originally, it was founded as the Church of Saints Peter and Paul, the St Augustine name not coming until after the death of Augustine.

 

A view over a grassy area to a group of ruined buildings from the abbey and also an old looking building that is St Augustine's College.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View of the abbey remains

 

An illustration showing a turreted gate building with a ruined tower standing off to the right of the picture.  This is a print taken from the book 'St Augustine’s Monastery, Canterbury' by the Rev R.J.E Boggis, published in 1901.
The Great Gateway and St Ethelbert’s Tower

 

Augustine was the first Archbishop of Canterbury, and he and his monks converted many of the pagans of Kent to Christianity.  His mission of uniting with the Christian Church already in Britain was a failure though. It appears that many of them were suspicious of his links with King Ethelbert, and were also not too keen on submitting to the church in Rome.

 

On 26th May AD 604, Augustine died and was buried in the abbey church.  Soon after his death he was venerated as a Saint, and the abbey became a place of pilgrimage.

 

St Augustine’s Abbey was the earliest monastery built in England and thrived for over 900 years.  It was seen as one of the most important Benedictine Monasteries in the Medieval world, then King Henry VIII happened.  He fell out with Pope Clement VII, who would not grant an annulment of his marriage, so Henry quickly had laws passed that abolished papal authority in England.  Henry was then declared to be the head of the Church of England. After this a mass land grab took place, in which lands and buildings which had belonged to the Roman Catholic Church were seized by the Crown.  In 1538, St Augustine’s Abbey was dissolved.  The monks there were given a life pension and then kicked out, while many of the buildings were demolished, items of any value were taken, and shrines and relics were destroyed.

 

A photo of St Augustine's College, an old stone building with arched windows and a steep tiled roof. Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
St Augustine’s College

 

A photo of the old crypt of the abbey - it is now a series of rough looking small stone pillars in a grassy area with the low remains of an arched building sitting at the back.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Site of the Crypt at St Augustine’s

 

A photo of a crumbling floor tile in the abbey crypt with a flower motif on it.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Tile in the crypt

 

A photo showing various crumbling and ruined walls of the old abbey.  In the background are trees and the blue skies of a sunny and hot day.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View of the abbey ruins

 

A photo showing the low ruined walls of St Augustine's Abbey in the foreground and the towering spires of Canterbury Cathedral in the background.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View of Canterbury Cathedral from abbey ruins

 

A photo showing a grassy area in the foreground with a circular pond in the middle.  In the background are the ruined walls of the abbey cloisters.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
View of the cloister

 

A photo of a rough stone wall made up of stone and flint.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
The stones of the wall

 

A view of a ruined area of the abbey with an arched gate in it.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Path down to the Cloister

 

Well, that’s a very brief potted history of the place, much of it learned as I pottered around reading the tourist info at the site, or reading the guidebook as I sheltered in the shade from the relentless burning rays of the sun.

 

Before leaving, to head somewhere a bit cooler, I left a Skulferatu on the crumbling stone by one of the windows, in what was once the cloister of the abbey.

 

A photo of a stone framed un paned window in an old stone wall.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Window in the Cloisters of the Abbey

 

A photo showing a small ceramic skull (Skulferatu #112) being held up with the ruins of St Augustine's Abbey in the background.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #112

 

A photo showing a small ceramic skull (Skulferatu #112) sitting on the crumbling stone under a window in the cloisters.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #112 on the crumbling stone by one of the windows

 

A photo showing a small ceramic skull (Skulferatu #112) sitting on the crumbling stone under a window in the cloisters.  Photo by Kevin Nosferatu for the Skulferatu Project.
Skulferatu #112 on the crumbling stone by one of the windows

 

TomTom Map showing the location of Skulferatu #112.
Map showing the location of Skulferatu #112

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 51.278339

Longitude 1.087793

 

what3words: fire.silly.zealous

 

I used the following sources for information on St Augustine’s Abbey –

 

Tourist Info at site

 
St Augustine’s Abbey
English Heritage Guidebook
Julian Luxford
2023
 
English Heritage
 

St Augustine’s Monastery, Canterbury
By Rev R.J.E Boggis
1901