2008

TR1557 : Canterbury city walls

taken 16 years ago, near to Canterbury, Kent, England

This is 1 of 9 images, with title Canterbury city walls in this square
Canterbury city walls
Canterbury city walls
Canterbury was surrounded by a wall in Roman times. Traces survive here and there. A fragment of the Roman Queningate can be seen in the city wall opposite St. Augustine's Great Gate, and further up, nearer Burgate, the Roman foundation of the wall is visible.

The walls are mentioned in several Anglo-Saxon documents. In 1011 the Danes succeeded in breaking into the city, slaughtering the inhabitants, and tossing them over the walls.

It has not yet been established whether the Roman and Saxon walls ran altogether on the same line as the later medieval walls, but about 1100 A.D. the city fortifications included the same area as they did to the end of the 18th century.

There were six gates in use in medieval times:-Northgate, Burgate, Newingate, Ridingate, Worthgate and Westgate. Later another came into existence, Wincheap Gate. The walls were frequently rebuilt and reconstructed but never called upon to withstand any real siege after 1011, though the city represented an important strongpoint in the system of national defence.

The West Gate is Grade I listed and a scheduled ancient monument.
The city walls are a scheduled ancient monument.

See other images of Canterbury City wall & gates

Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright N Chadwick and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Category: Wall > Wall (ruined)
This photo is linked from: Automatic Clusters: · Canterbury [993] · Listed [731] · City Walls [109] Title Clusters: · Canterbury city walls [9] ·
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Grid Square
TR1557, 1482 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
N Chadwick   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Saturday, 27 September, 2008   (more nearby)
Submitted
Sunday, 28 September, 2008
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TR 152 578 [100m precision]
WGS84: 51:16.7249N 1:5.1053E
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! TR 152 577
View Direction
North-northwest (about 337 degrees)
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Image classification(about): Geograph
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