Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade I listed building. Main construction periods 1200 to 1901. Elements may date to the early 11th century. Parish church extant in 1086 and documented in 1174. The present building mainly dates to the 13th century with 14th century additions including some of 1332.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval to Modern - 1200 AD to 2050 AD)
• WALL MONUMENT (Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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Description from record TR 15 NW 11:
[TR 14245831] St Dunstan's Church [NAT]. (1) The Church of St Dunstan's without the West Gate, Canterbury, is 13th/14thc with probable pre Conquest quoins in the NW angle of the nave. (2-3) In normal use. (4) The Church of St Dunstan. Grade B. 13th to 14thc. (For full description see list). (5) Additional bibliography. (6-9) Trinity Chapel was added to the north side of the nave of St Dunstan'sChurch in 1330. A measured drawing was made of the east wall prior torestoration in 1982. (10) St Dunstan. Extant by c1086 and mentioned in 1174 when Henry II started his pilgrimage there (11a). Roper Chantry, with ? the head of Sir Thomas Moore in vault, is on the south east side, built c1402, rebuilt c1524. A chapel of the Holy Trinity, founded and built c1330,on the north-west side, in the care Poor Priests' Hospital. North wall of nave and chancel has c11th century herringbone work. (11) Additional bibliography. (12)

The earliest visible remains are the large 'megalithic quoins' at the N.W. corner of the nave, which perhaps suggest a date in the first half of the 11th century. The blocks which are in the lower half of the corner only, are of Hythe and Marquise stone. The present nave and chancel must have been rebuilt soon after the conquest. There is 'herringbone work' on the north side and small Caenstone groins. Local flint and sandstone rubble is used and both the nave and chancel are an original feature though no late 11th or 12th century architectural details remain.

Unusually there is no evidence for a subsequent enlargement of the church until the early 14th century when the south aisle and south arcade were built. There are three fine two-light windows in the south aisle wall with big octofoils (really split-cusping) at the head. A similar window was inserted into the nave north wall. The big lancet to the west of the latter has a rere-arch which suggests it is also early 14th century in date. The inserted trefoil headed window on the north-east side of the chancel is also probably early 14th century, and the original east window was probably of the same date (as seen in pre-restoration drawings of the church interior).

In 1330 a roadside chapel (with a door from the street) was added to the N.W. corner of the church. Dedicated to the Holy Trinity it was founded by Henry of Canterbury, the King's Chaplain, and in the care of the Poor priests' Hospital (Somner, Antiquities of Canterbury (1703 ed), 168-9). The east window of this chapel has been blocked up (see elevation drawing in Arch. Cant. 98 (1982), 234) - perhaps in c. 1685 when the porch roof was rebuilt. The west window of the chapel has new later 19th century tracery. Earlier 19th century views show the window empty and blocked, though the Grose drawing of 1758 apparently shows a 3-light window. There is also a small north window (square-headed) and a north doorway (now blocked). Inside the chapel (a vestry since at least the 18th century) there is a piscina and blocked up squint window in the south wall (now a cupboard).

The main addition of the 15th century is the tall thin tower added to the west end of the south aisle. The tower arch is of the same date, as is the low round stair-turret on the south (the external door to this was inserted in the early 19th century) A vault under the tower seems to have been intended but was never built. (The present timber ribs are presumably 19th century). Nearby rope marks can be seen on the N.E. and west internal faces. There are 6 bells in the tower, which hang in a new (1936) frame. The top part of the tower has had considerable repair internally (concrete and tile etc.).

Following the completion of the tower, the south aisle was reroofed, and a new south parapet was built. The wall posts on corbels perhaps date from this time in the 15th century, though
the almost flat roof and ceiling has been restored. A new west doorway (with square hoodmould) and 3-light perpendicular west window to the nave (tracery restored) was also built in the 15th century, as was the existing 4-bay crown-post roof (and probably the 2-bay chancel roof - which now has a Victorian boarded ceiling). There is also a square headed 15th century 2-light window on the north side of the chancel, and it also seems likely that a stone porch was added at this time immediately east of the Trinity Chapel (the east window of which could still obtain light from above a steep-pitched porch roof). The porch was re-roofed and given new barge-boards in 1685 (the date is at the apex), perhaps after the Trinity chapel east window was blocked.

Inside the church under the tower, are the remains of a 15th century font and (restored) pinnacled wooden cover. The final addition to the church is the well-known early 16th century brick Roper Chantry chapel (fully drawn and described in Antiq. J. LX (1980), 227-246). The chapel of St. Nicholas was first established here in 1402 (see A Hussey, Kent Chantries pt. I (1932), 56-9), but no 15th century remains appear to survive here. The engaged columns for the arches to the south aisle and chancel are probably of brick with a plaster facing. They have no bases. The stone column on the north (with a base) may be a later-restoration. Under this chapel are the brick burial vaults (details in op. cit. supra).

A few fragments of ancient glass remain in the west window under the tower.

The main restoration of the church was in 1880 (dates on drain-pipes, etc.), when two lancets were inserted on either side of the west door and new tracery was put into the vestry west window. Much other external restoration and refacing was also carried out at this time, and a new floor was laid in the church.

The organ was put into the Roper Chapel (removed from here to the west gallery in c. 1932), and new pews made here. The east window was completely rebuilt and raised so that a new reredos behind the high altar could be put in. A drawing in the vestry shows the interior of the church before this restoration with box pews and a small organ in the south aisle. There is a large pulpit (on the same site as the present one), and a row of hatchments on the south upper wall of the chancel and nave. (13)

Building materials: reused Roman, Hythe and Marquise stone (?reused), Caen and Kentish Rag, flint and sandstone as rubble. Reigate blocks may suggest 13th century repairs. Red bricks from early 16th century. Restoration in Bath stone. (13)

Two Bethersden marble tomb-chests in the Roper Chantry and one wall monument. (13).

Churchyard with burials from at least 1468 documented, 19th century monuments and stones visible. (13).

Prior to c.1086 AD the Patron of the Church was the Archbishop of Canterbury but it then became St Gregory's priory. (13).

Archaeological deposits: possible under 1880 (relaying of floors) rubble under present floor (many vaults filled in at this time). (13).

Archaeological assessment: churchyard probably overlies a Roman cemetery. Site of destroyed stone cross north of the church (1640s). Church is probably a rare late Saxon building ?St Mildred's). (13).

Listing text:
856/1/110 ST DUNSTAN'S STREET
03-DEC-49 (Southwest side)
THE CHURCH OF ST DUNSTAN'S WITHOUT THE
WEST GATE

I

The nave is late C11 or early C12 in origin. The NW chapel was built in 1330. The S aisle is late C14 and the SW tower is late C14 or early C15. The SE chapel was added in 1402 and rebuilt in brick c.1524. The porch was added in the C17. The church was restored in 1878-80 to designs by Ewan Christian, and there were further repairs in the C20.

MATERIALS:
Flint and stone rubble with stone dressings; SE chapel C16 red brick. Tiled roofs.

PLAN:
Chancel with SE chapel, nave with S aisle and SW tower, N porch, NW chapel.

EXTERIOR:
There is good massing at the W end, descending from the tall SW tower across the nave roof to the NW chapel. The C14 tower has an embattled parapet, the lower three stages undivided and with a single, small C14 window with a square head on each face. The bell stage has two-light C14 cusped openings, also with square heads. There is a short, round stair turret on the S side. The W end of the nave has a large C15 W window and below it a C15 W door with blind tracery in the spandrels. The door is flanked by two C13 lancets, presumably reset, as they are in an odd position. The very large quoin stones in the NW corner of the nave survive from the late C11 or early C12 nave. The C14 NW chapel has its own gabled roof, a two-light Decorated W window, and in the N wall a small rectangular C14 window that breaks the string course and a blocked C14 doorway.

The N porch was added or rebuilt in the late C17 and has a chamfered outer opening and a small E window. There is a C17 pendant at the apex of the gable bargeboards. Herringbone masonry in the nave N wall survives from the late C11 or early C12 nave; the lancet to the E of the N porch is late C12 or very early C13, and there is also a C14 window in the nave N wall. There is another C14 window and a C13 lancet in the chancel N wall, and the E window is C14, heavily renewed, with intersecting ogee tracery. The SE chapel was rebuilt in brick c.1524 and has a low pitched roof behind a plain parapet, and three light windows with depressed heads and uncusped lights. The S aisle also has a low pitched roof behind a plain parapet, and three late Decorated windows, each of two lights with a large cusped lozenge in the head. There is no clerestory.


INTERIOR:
There is no chancel arch, but the chancel is distinguished by offsets that narrow it from the nave on either side. The four bay S arcade is very tall for the height of the nave, reaching almost to the top of the wall and is late C14 in date. The outer orders have continuous hollow chamfers, the inner is on half-round shafts with moulded capitals and bases. The tower arch, opening into the W bay of the S aisle, is also C14 and has a continuous outer order and an inner order on shafts with moulded capitals that are slightly different to those in the arcade. The tower is vaulted, with corner shafts similar to the tower arch, and thin ribs. The SW chapel opens to the aisle through an early C15 arch on polygonal responds with moulded capitals, and there is a matching two bay arcade from the chapel to the chancel, the central pier with a very high base. Traces of a former squint from the nave into the NW chapel are visible in the nave N wall. Timber W gallery, underbuilt to form a vestry, the upper part used as the organ loft.

Late medieval nave roof of tie beam and crown post construction. The tie beams are moulded, and the crown posts have moulded capitals and bases. The rafters are open. The chancel roof is of similar construction, but is largely C19 and the rafters are panelled. The S aisle roof is also C19 but retains the moulded timber wall posts and stone corbels of the medieval roof. The SE chapel roof is flat and C16 in style with moulded beams.

PRINCIPAL FIXTURES:
Plain octagonal font, probably C14, with an excellent C15 timber cover in the form of a tabernacle, with buttresses, pinnacles, and tracery; the lower part of the cover has been restored. There are also two identical Coade stone fonts, probably early C19, with baluster stems and small bowls with fluting on the undersides. C19 timber pulpit, choir stalls and simple nave benches.

Some good C20 glass, notably chancel E window by William Aikman of 1933, the Thomas More window by Lawrence Lee (1973) and the Ecumenical window of 1984 by John Hayward, both in the SE chapel.

In the S chapel, two marble tomb chests, one of quite plain of Bethersden marble for John Roper, d.1524, with a back plate for brasses, now lost. The other is larger, and more heavily decorated, for Edmund Roper, d.1533. Also a wall tablet with double columns but no figures for Thomas Roper, d.1597. A ledger slab of 1932 marks the burial place in the S Chapel's Roper vault of the head of Sir Thomas More, d.1535 and revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic church.

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES
Some good table tombs in the churchyard.

HISTORY
The present church is late C11 or early C12 in origin, and the herringbone flint work and large NW quoins of the nave are of this date. In 1170/1 King Henry II is said to have removed his shoes and changed into penitential garments here for his entrance into Canterbury following the murder of Thomas Becket. The chancel was rebuilt in the C13 and retains a lancet of this date. The NW chapel was built c.1330 as a chantry by Henry de Canterbury, chaplain to Edward III. The SW tower and S aisle were built in the later C14, possibly in two phases. The SE chapel was built in 1402 by John Roper and dedicated to St Nicholas. It was rebuilt in brick c. 1524. The head of Sir Thomas More, beheaded in 1535 for refusing to sign the Act of Supremacy, is buried in the Roper vault in the S aisle. His daughter, Margaret Roper, wife of William Roper, persuaded the bridgekeeper of London Bridge to throw it to her as she passed under the bridge in a boat. Although she was imprisoned for this, she was eventually released and allowed to keep the head. More is revered as a saint by the Roman Catholic church, and the church is a place of pilgrimage. The church was restored in 1878-80 to designs by Ewan Christian, a well known church architect. The SE chapel was used as an organ chamber and restored as a chapel in the early C20.

SOURCES:
Lambeth Palace Library ICBS 08399
Buildings of England North-East and East Kent (1976), 236-7
Worgan, M. The Church of St Dunstan, Canterbury: A General Guide to the Church (nd)

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION:
The church of St Dunstan's without the west gate, Canterbury is designated at Grade I for the following principal reasons:
* Parish church, late C11 or early C12 in origin, preserving herringbone masonry and quoins of that date, enlarged in the C13 and C14 and with a possibly C15 roof in nave; the history of the building can be easily read in the masonry;
* Very good massing with particularly tall tower and small C19 staircase block;
* SE (Roper) chapel rebuilt in brick c1524;
* C14 font with very rare C15 cover;
* Historic interest as the reputed site of the start of Henry II's penitence in Canterbury following the murder of Thomas Becket, and as the site of the burial place of the head of Thomas More (as such as place of pilgrimage).

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 944 ST DUNSTAN'S STREET (South West Side)
The Church of St Dunstan's without the West Gate TR 1458 SW 1/110 3.12.49.
B
2. C13 to C14. 1 storey coursed flint and rubble with stone dressings. Squat South West tower is crenellated. The interior has been restored in Victorian times. 4 bay Nave with South aisle. 3 restored windows. Georgian wall monuments. On the south side is St Nicholas Chapel. In the Roper vault beneath the chapel is the head of Sir Thomas More. His daughter, Margaret Roper, wishing to bury her father's remains decently, persuaded one of the Bridgekeeper's of London Bridge to remove it from its pike and throw it to her as she passed underneath in a boat. For this she was imprisoned, but soon liberated and allowed to keep the head, which was buried in her husband's family vault.
Listing NGR: TR1424158313 (14)

English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<1> OS 1:2500 1957 (OS Card Reference). SKE48200.

<2> MHLG (944/11/A Mar 1962) 42 (OS Card Reference). SKE47037.

<3> Arch J 86 1930 248 (AW Clapham) (OS Card Reference). SKE36735.

<4> F1 ASP 01-FEB-65 (OS Card Reference). SKE41866.

<5> DOE (HHR) City of Canterbury Kent Sept 1973 214-5 (OS Card Reference). SKE40048.

<6> BOE NE and E Kent 1983 238-239 (J Newman) (OS Card Reference). SKE38221.

<7> CAT Ann Rep 3 1978-79 15-16 (T Tatton-Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE38667.

<8> The Church of Brit Arch CBA Res Rep 47 1983 97 (J Roxan and R Morris) (OS Card Reference). SKE50268.

<9> Arch Cant 98 1982 234-5 (T Tatton-Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE36316.

<10> CAT Ann Rep 6 1981-2 34 (T Tatton-Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE38680.

<11> CBA Churches Comm Bull 25 1989 - compiled 1984 - 11 (T Tatton-Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE38773.

<12> Hist Builds Survey Cant City Council/RCHME 57035 6 of 29 (OS Card Reference). SKE43891.

<13> Diocese of Canterbury (Tim Tatton-Brown), 1991, Church Survey - St Dunstan's Church, Canterbury. (Unpublished document). SKE7608.

<14> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Sources and further reading

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