St Mary Northgate and Roman Wall, Canterbury

The Roman wall of St Mary Northgate

The city walls of Canterbury were laid out during the Roman period, between AD 270-290, with seven gates piercing the wall. The Roman Northgate stood on the main road towards Reculver and the Isle of Thanet (now the A28).

History

The Roman gate had a small chapel, probably in an upper room over the gateway arch. We know that similar chapels were installed over or beside other city gates. For example, Burgate had a chapel dedicated to St Michael and Ridingate had a parish church, dedicated to St Edmund.

At some point in the late Saxon period, a church dedicated to St Mary was installed above the arch in place of the earlier chapel. In the early medieval period the church was extended, with a nave built south from the wall and [possibly] a west tower added. The earlier city wall was raised to serve as the north wall of the new church nave. The parish of St Mary Northgate was later merged with the parish of St Alphege.

St Mary Northgate Church (now Hall)

St Mary Northgate was one of four medieval churches in Canterbury dedicated to St Mary, though the church's parish extended well outside the city walls, making it the largest population of any parish in the city. The church incorporated both Roman remains and earlier medieval stonework.

Unfortunately, though the gate had separate arches for vehicles and pedestrian traffic, it acted as a bottleneck to traffic flow, so in 1830 it was pulled down, along with all but one of the other gates, with only Westgate surviving.

The church was now missing a chancel and was much smaller in size, so a south aisle was added, which had the effect of narrowing Church Lane. The northern wall, incorporated into the city walls, was reused. The new construction was largely in brick, with three large gables facing onto Borough. At the south-west corner is a red-brick tower and rising above the church roof are four pinnacles in the style of Egyptian obelisks.

The Norman window (right)

What to See

Surviving from the Roman period is the old north wall, extending 18 feet in length. As for the church, it was made redundant in 1912. It was used for a time as parish rooms, then passed to the hands of King's School for use as a theatre known as St Mary Northgate Hall. It is rarely open to the public.

The best view of St Mary Northgate and the remains of the Roman wall are from St Radigund's Street, around the rear of the former church. Here there is a small garden and an information panel detailing the history of the site and what to look for amid the remains.

The church's west facade

Set into the church wall is a blocked Norman window with a rounded head, typical Romanesque architecture. Just visible over a brick and flint wall is a Perpendicular widow with a square-headed top.

Visiting

The church itself is not normally open to visitors, however, you can see the Roman wall at any time from St Radigund's Street. There is an information panel outside St Radigund's Garden and another set onto the church wall on Northgate.

Set into the pavement on Northgate is a plaque marking the site of Northgate. You can also trace the foundations of the city wall from the sunken garden on St Radigund's Street as it extends in the direction of Westgate.