Abbeys and Monasteries in Kent

The first Carmelite house in Britain, founded in 1242, Dissolved by Henry VIII and turned into a mansion, the Carmelite order repurchased the property in 1949 and restored the medieval core. Now a retreat and pilgrimage centre, based around the Great Courtyard, one of the most beautiful and complete medieval courts in England.
Aylesford, Kent, England, ME20 7BX

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Heritage Highlight: The medieval Great Courtyard and Pilgrim's Hall, dated to 1280.
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Established in the 12th century by the Archbishop of Canterbury as a place of hospitality to pilgrims, Eastbridge Hospital has operated as an almshouse for the last 400 years. View the Gothic undercoft, Pilgrims Chapel, and see the Refectory with its 13th-century wall paintings.
25 High Street, Canterbury, Kent, England, CT1 2BD

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Lesnes was an abbey founded because of a guilty conscience. The ruins of this 12th-century Augustinian monastery stand beside the River Thames, near a popular nature reserve.
Abbey Road, Belvedere, Kent, England, DA17 5DL

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A modern nunnery incorporating a Norman monastery, on the site of a still older 7th century monastery sacked by the Danes. Parts of the Norman monastic buildings are still in use, with medieval and later additions. Regular visitor tours.
Church Street, Minster-in-Thanet, Kent, England, CT12 4BX

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Heritage Highlight: Norman vaulted chambers
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In this case the abbey isn't just dedicated to St. Augustine, it was actually founded by him, in AD 598, to house the monks he brought with him to convert the Britons to Christianity.
Longport, Canterbury, Kent, England, CT1 1PF

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Photos of St Augustine's Abbey
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