Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/485

Rh CANTERBURY. CANTERBURY. .hm'Ch. The cathedral was thoroughly repaired and estored a few years ago. The precincts, comprising- an rea about three quarters of a mile in circuit, contain lany venerable remains of ancient architecture. The .eautiful gateway built by Prior Goldstone in 1517, in he perpendicular stylo, consisting of two archways lanked by octangular towers, now covered with ivy, brms the chief entrance to the precincts. Within are he cloisters, the chapter-house, the library, or prior's hapel, the remains of the old palace of the "archbishops, he treasury, the grammar school, &c. The cloisters are >n the N. side of the cathedral, and form a large quad- angle 134 feet square, with beautiful windows, and a croined roof ornamented with nearly 700 shields. The I loisters have been restored. The chapter-house is an nt building, partly in the early English and .y in the perpendicular style, with panelled oak richly ornamented windows, and stone seats. 92 feet long, 37 broad, and 51 high. In the ibrary, which contains the MSS. of Isaac Casaubon, !;e, and others, are a curious marble table, inlaid . mythological figures, and an ancient copy of harter of Archbishop Dunstan. The treasury s curious Norman staircase in very good preserva- In the Green Court is the deanery, formerly the . . containing portraits of the deans of Canterbury. 1'lir city comprises 13 pars., the livings being all in the 'Hue. of Canterbury. The living of All Saints is a rect. lidated with those of St. Mary-in-the-Castle and St. Mildred, val. 150, in the gift of the lord chancellor. Tin 1 church of St. Mildred is partly in the perpendicular . and contains several old monuments. The church - -1 Saints has been rebuilt. St. Alphage's is a rcct.* united with the vie. of St. Mary Northgate, val. 189, in the gift of the archbishop. St. Andrew's is a rect.* united with that of St. Mary's Bredman, which now form )mt one par., val. 223, in the patron, of the archbishop for two turns, and of the dean and chapter for one. The church was rebuilt in 1764. St. George the Martyr is a ' united with that of St. Mary Magdalene, val. 140, in the patron, of the dean and chapter. St. George the I is a. perpet. cur. The church, which is a Norman lnulding, was restored a few years ago. It has a wooden tower, and contains an ancient font and a monumental brass of the year 1531. St. Margaret's is a rect.,* val. 120, in the patron, of the Archdeacon of Canterbury. The church possesses a brass of 1479, and a monument to Somncr, author of the " Antiquities of Canterbury." St. Martin's is a rect. united with the vie. of St. Paul's, val. 300, in the patron, of the archbishop and the dean and chapter alternately. The church of St. Martin is the most interesting of the old churches in Canterbury, and, according to tradition, is the most ancient in England. It was here that St. Augustine first preached Christianity, before the cathedral was built. In it Bertha, the pious queen of Ethelbert, was both baptised and buried. The present structure stands on a hill without the city, on the site of the one erected in the time of St. Augustine, or earlier, having been first built about A.D. 187. It is a small plain structure, with a tower covered with ivy. It contains a very old font, three monumental brasses, and windows of stained glass, and has been carefully restored. Roman bricks are observable in the walls of the chancel, which is probably the most ancient por- tion. The churchyard commands a good view, and is adorned with yew trees. The church of St. Paul is in the early English style, and contains the tomb of Admiral Kooke, a font supported by pillars, and two monumental brasses. The living of St. Mary Bredin is a vie., val. 149, in the patron, of the Rev. II. I,. Warner. The church is very ancient and has a wooden tower. St. Peter's is a rect.* united with the vie. of Holy Cross, val. 120, in the patron, of the archbishop and the dean find chapter alternately. The church of the Holy Cross is a cruciform edifice of great antiquity, and had" once a chantry attached to it. St. Dunstan' s is a vie., val. 120, in the patron, of the archbishop. Tho church, which stands without the walls of the city, is a very ancient building, with a western tower and a semicircular tower close to it. It has been much altered, and has lost part of its original character. It contains an old font, a piscina, and the vault of the Roper family, where was deposited the head of the Lord Chancellor Sir Thomas More by his daughter, Mary Roper. The head was discovered, during some repairs in 1835, in a leaden box in the vault. Two chantries were formerly attached to this church. Besides these churches the city con- tains nine chapels, of which three belong to the Bap- tists, and the others to the Independents, Quakers, Wes- leyan and Primitive Methodists, Walloons, and Lady Huntingdon's Connexion. There is also a Jewish syna- gogue. The grammar school, called the King's School, was founded at the close of the 7th century, and re- founded by Henry VIII. for 50 scholars. It has one annual exhibition, tenable for four years at Oxford and Cambridge alternately, and two smaller ones for descen- dants of particular families. The boys in the school are divided thus : 5 senior scholars, 30 per annum ; 15 junior, 15; 30 probationers, 10 ; and about 3o com- moners. The remains of the old buildings were pulled down in 1863, to be replaced by modern structures. The building is within the cathedral precincts, and occupies the site of the almonry. Harvey, who discovered the cir- culation of the blood, and Tenterden, lord chief justice of England, were educated at this school. The blue-coat school was founded in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, on the foundation of a very old hospital for poor priests endowed by Simon do Langton. It is for 16 boys, who are clothed, maintained, educated, and afterwards appren- ticed. The revenue of the school is about 500 per annum. There are also grey-coat, Sunday, National, British, and infant schools. The hospitals, almshouses, and other institutions for charitable purposes are nume- rous. Jesus Hospital, founded by Sir John Boys in 1596, has an endowment of about 600 a year, part of which is applied to the education and clothing of 20 children. Eastridgo Hospital, said to have been founded by Arch- bishop Lanfranc, has a revenue of 510, and a school annexed to it founded by Archbishop Whitgift. May- nard's Hospital was established by Maynard le Rich about the beginning of the 14th century, and has an in- come from endowment of about 240 a year ; Cotton's Hos- pital is united with it. St. John's Hospital, also founded by Lanfranc, for infirm and blind men and women, has a revenue of nearly 500. There are several other alms- houses. A missionary college, in connection with the Church of England, has been established on the site of the ancient abbey, which was sold by the Wottons to Mr. Beresford-Hope in 1844, and by him given to the arch- bishop for that purpose. The college was incorporated in 1848, and is built in the form of a quadrangle. It comprises apartments for 45 students, rooms for the fel- lows, chapel, cloister, library, and crypt. Twenty exhibi- tions are already endowed in connection with it. As far as was practicable the remains of the abbey have been pre- served. The annual valuo of the charitable endowments of the city is about 5,000. The monastery of St. Augustine was the most important of the religious foun- dations anciently existing at Canterbury. It was founded in 597 by St. Augustine for monks of the Benedictine order, and rose to the dignity of a mitred abbey. It was enlarged and enriched by the gifts of kings and nobles, holding 12,000 acres of land in various parts of England, and was valued at the Dissolution at 1,432. The abbey and its precincts occupied about 16 acres of ground on the eastern side of the city, and many kings and archbishops were buried in it. The remains con- sist chiefly of the beautiful gateway, which has been repaired, part of St. Ethelbert's tower, and the re- mains of the chapel of St. Pancras, said to have been built before the time of King Ethelbert I. They are now rescued from the vile uses to which they had once been appropriated, and no longer serve for a public-house, a brewery, or a cockpit. Among the other ancient remains are those of St. Lawrence's hospital for lepers, and the Dominican and Franciscan priories. The remains of St. Gregory's priory have been taken down. Only the wall and an archway remain of the once sumptuous palace of r