St Martin's Church
About
Recognised as the oldest parish church in continuous use anywhere in the English-speaking world, with parts of the chancel walls thought to include Roman brick and masonry predating Augustine's arrival in 597. Queen Bertha, the Christian wife of the pagan King Ethelbert of Kent, is recorded as worshipping here before Augustine's mission, and the church served as his base while Canterbury Cathedral was being built. It's a working parish church rather than a museum, small and quiet, and it completes the UNESCO trio with the Cathedral and the Abbey a short walk away.
Photos
Highlights
- ✓Oldest parish church in continuous use in the English-speaking world
- ✓Reputed worship site of Queen Bertha before Augustine's arrival
- ✓Includes Roman-era brick and masonry in its walls
- ✓Free to visit, no ticket needed
Tips
- →Opening hours are limited to Wednesday-Sunday, 11am-3pm, so check before making the walk out.
- →Thursday access is churchyard only during the midday service unless you're attending.
- →It's a level walk from the Abbey along Longport and North Holmes Road.
Best Season
More Attraction Activities
Canterbury Cathedral
The mother church of the Church of England, founded in 597, where Thomas Becket was murdered in 1170. Part of Canterbury's UNESCO World Heritage Site.
St Augustine's Abbey
The ruined 598 AD monastery founded by St Augustine, burial place of early Kentish kings, and part of Canterbury's UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Canterbury Roman Museum
A basement museum built around an excavated Roman townhouse and its in-situ mosaic floor, on the site first exposed by wartime bomb damage in 1942.