Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The Church of St Edmund was founded in the late 11th century by Hamo, son of Vitalis. The actual site is now lost but was probably just inside the Ridingate on the south side The parish was united with that of St Mary Bredin in 1349 due to depopulation caused by the Black Death.

Monument Types

• CHURCH (Medieval - 1200 AD? to 1349 AD)

Full description

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St. Edmund's Chapel, Ridingate, was founded by Hamo, son of Vitalis, during the eleventh century, perhaps in a chamber above the old Roman gateway.

About c. 1200 the chapel appears to have been closed when a new church, dedicated to St. Edmund, was built just inside the Ridingate. Excavations by the Canterbury Archaeological trust in 1986 showed that the church was established in the carriageway and flanking guard chamber of the old Roman gateway, the east wall partially blocked the decayed Roman door. The west wall of the church was extended westwards, its north wall being butted up against the central supporting wall of the Roman gate. There was probably a small surrounding graveyard.

The Mother church it paid dues to was St. Sepulchre. Because of an acute de-population in the early to mid fourteenth century, due to the 'Black Death', in 1349 the parish was united with that of St. Mary Bredin. The Church of St. Edmund was probably closed and demolished after that date.

The exact size of the church building is not known and has been estimated.

Urry, W., 1967, Canterbury under the Angevin Kings (Monograph). SKE28529.

Tatton-Brown, Tim., 1980, Canterbury Parish Churches (Unpublished document). SKE28328.

Sources and further reading