England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Canterbury St Peter

The Parish

The ancient city of Canterbury is located about 55 miles southeast of London on the A2 road (a Roman creation) which connects the capital with the major Kent port of Dover, the gateway to Calais and the continent of Europe. Canterbury was probably founded in pre-Roman times but the conquerors certainly grew its stature and turned it into one of their major administrative centres, subsequently its became the Saxon capital of the kingdom of Kent and eventually the major religious centre for Christianity in southeast England. Canterbury became the seat of the Archbishopric following the drive to convert the country in the 6th century. Canterbury remains the administrative capital of Kent (despite Maidstone's pretensions) and a significant market for the whole of eastern Kent. Canterbury, like many of England's ancient cities, is divided into many parishes (in the case of Canterbury - 17) and St Peter's parish was a middling sized parish in area and population, it covered much of the northwestern quarter of the city within the walls but a tiny area physically and would have supported a population of around 850 parishioners. Canterbury is drained by the Great Stour which flows which flows northeastwards to reach the North Sea through the port of Sandwich. St Peter's church is sited at just 8 metres above sea level, it being not far from the banks of the Great Stour. As a great city by the time of Norman invasion Canterbury is documented extensively in Domesday Book, too much so to re-document here.

The Church

St Peter's church is located on the eastern side of St Peter's Lane, a narrow winding lane heading off St Peter's Street (this street is one of the major thoroughfares within the compact mediaeval core and heads northwestwards from the centre of the city. St Peter's church is a rather ancient building with evidence of the Norman original building preserved in the western arch of the northern arcade. Much else is dateable to the Early English Gothic period of the early 13th century, Pevsner comments that much of the work is of the "severest kind" from that period. As is usual much was altered during the Perpendicular era with the southern aisle being notably lengthened at that time. The refacing of the chancel gable in brown brick during the 19th century is a surprising anomaly. The skinny tower which is placed at the southwestern corner, an unusual location for a tower perhaps dictated by early housing constrictions, seems to offer a charming prospect when seen between the shops and businesses of St Peter's Street. In common with most of Canterbury's mediaeval centre it is far better to park and approach this church on foot through the labyrinthine lanes of the mediaeval heart of the city, photography is somewhat limited by the enclosed site.