Footings of Wulfric's Rotunda, St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury

Footings of Wulfric's Rotunda, St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury

Archaeology

In about 1050 Wulfric, abbot of St Augustine's Abbey, decided to join the two early churches of SS Peter & Paul (the first on the site) and St Mary (built directly behind it on the same alignment), to create a single large church. To do this he demolished the east wall of SS Peter & Paul and the west end of St Mary, and bridged the gap with a rotunda, a feature not seen in English churches before. Unfortunately he died before it could be completed and his successor abandoned the project, leaving only these below-ground foundations as evidence.

Jonathan Dore

c.1050

2010-08-30