- St Martin's Church, Canterbury
-
For other uses, see St Martin's Church (disambiguation).
Church of St Martin 
St Martin's ChurchLocation: Canterbury, Kent, UK Coordinates: 51°16′40.76″N 1°5′37.77″E / 51.2779889°N 1.093825°ECoordinates: 51°16′40.76″N 1°5′37.77″E / 51.2779889°N 1.093825°E UNESCO World Heritage Site Official name: Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church Type: Cultural Criteria: i, ii, vi Designated: 1988 (12th session) Reference #: 496 Country: United Kingdom Region: Europe and North America Listed Building – Grade I Official name: St Martin's Church Designated: 28-Feb-1952 Reference #: 1259041[1] 
Location of Church of St Martin in United Kingdom KentThe Church of St Martin in Canterbury, England, situated slightly beyond the city centre, is England's oldest parish church in continuous use. Since 1668 St Martin's has been part of the benefice of St Martin & St Paul Canterbury. Both St Martin's and nearby St Paul's churches are used for weekly services. The current Rector of the Parish is the Rev'd Canon Noelle Hall.
Contents
Early history
St Martin's was the private chapel of Queen Bertha of Kent in the 6th century before Augustine arrived from Rome. Queen Bertha was a Christian Frankish princess who arrived in England with her Chaplain, Bishop Liudhard. King Æthelberht of Kent, her husband, allowed her to continue to practise her religion in an existing church which the Venerable Bede says had been in use in the late Roman period but had fallen into disuse. There is a strong possibility that this church is St Martin's, especially since Bede names it.
Shortly before 1844, a hoard of gold coins was found in the churchyard, one of which is the Liudhard medalet, which bears an image of a diademed figure with a legend referring to Liudhard.[2]
Architecture
Roman bricks in the chancel wall
Local finds prove that Christianity did exist in this area of the city at the time, and the church contains many reused Roman bricks or spolia, as well as complete sections of walls of Roman tiles. Several sections of walls are clearly very early, and it is possible that a blocked square-headed doorway in the chancel was the entrance to Bertha's church, while other sections of wall come from the period after the Gregorian mission in the 7th or 8th centuries, including most of the nave. The apse that was originally at the east end has been removed.[3] The tower is much later, in Perpendicular style. The church is a Grade A (equivalent to Grade I) listed building.[4]
Graves
The churchyard contains the graves of many notable local families and well-known people including Thomas Sidney Cooper, RA (artist) and Mary Tourtel, the creator of Rupert Bear.
Music
The church has a strong continuing musical tradition from the monks of St Augustine to the present day. The first Sunday of every month is usually a Renaissance mass setting, sung by a quartet of singers. The Choral Director for the parish is Dom del Nevo.
References
- ^ "The National Heritage List For England". English Heritage. http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/. Retrieved 2011-08-01.
- ^ Grierson, Philip (1979). "The Canterbury (St. Martin's) Hoard of Frankish and Anglo-Saxon Coin-Ornaments". Dark Age Numismatics: Selected Studies. London: Variorum Reprints. pp. 38–51, Corregida 5. ISBN 0-86078-041-4.
- ^ Service, pp. 14-17 and: John Julius Norwich, The Architecture of Southern England, p.313, Macmillan, London, 1985, ISBN 03333220374
- ^ Details from listed building database (441523) - Grade A. Images of England. English Heritage.
Sources
- F. Haverfield, "Early British Christianity" The English Historical Review Vol. 11, No. 43. (Jul., 1896)
- Service, Alastair, The Buildings of Britain, A Guide and Gazetteer, Anglo-Saxon and Norman, 1982, Barrie & Jenkins (London), ISBN 0091501318
External links
World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom England Bath · Blenheim Palace · Canterbury Cathedral, St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church · Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape · Derwent Valley Mills · Durham Castle and Cathedral · Frontiers of the Roman Empire (Hadrian's Wall) · Ironbridge Gorge · Jurassic Coast · Kew Gardens · Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City · Maritime Greenwich · Saltaire · Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites · Studley Royal Park and Fountains Abbey · Tower of London · Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church
Scotland Wales Northern Ireland British Overseas Territories Categories:- Standing Anglo-Saxon churches
- Buildings and structures in Canterbury
- World Heritage Sites in England
- Church of England churches in Kent
- 6th-century church buildings
- Grade I listed churches
- Grade I listed buildings in Kent
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
