The Old Rectory of St. Alphege, Canterbury

THE OLD REOI'ORY OF ST. ALPHEGE, CANTERBURY By E. W. P.AltKIN Tms very interesting corner of Canterb􀃣ry has beeu in the gift of the Archbishop for something over nine centuries. Here we find the ancient church of St. Alphege with a small churchyard behind it, a plot of glebe land, and a small building, no. 8 Palace Street, now an antique shop. This shop, however, is not now part of the church property, as it was sold into private hands by the Church Commissioners only a few years ago, and a part of the glebe land was rented out as a garden. In this garden, between no. 8 and the church, some old brick foundations may be seen. These were part of the Old Rectory, built in 1665 and finally demolished in 1876, as the liyjng of St. Alphege had been attached permanently to the Mastership of Eastbridge Hospital. No. 8 is very much older than this, and is believed to have been buHt originally about the year 1250 as the priest house, and to have remained the church house until the seventeenth century. Bede mentions a church hereabouts in his account of the great fire in Canterbury in the year 624, then dedicated to the four crowned martyrs of Roman days, and again Somner mentions it in his notes on Liminge, or Lyminge, in 804. The earliest site is thought to have been a little to the east of the present one; a clue to the reason for this re-siting is given in that most famous of all records, Domesday, which informs us: 'Ad lwc manerium pertinuerunt T.R.E. in ciuita,te LII masurae et modo non suir>t nisi XXV quia aUae sunt destructae in noua Twspitatione A rchiepiscopi.' (In the time of King Edward, 52 messuages in the city pertained to this manor, and now there are not more than 25 because the others have been destroyed for the new dwelling-house of the Archbishop.) The Cathedral buildings at this time did not extend so far westward as they do now, their western boundary being shown on the accompanying sketch map (Fig. 1), as a finely broken line. Part of an early external tower still survives a.t T, near the famous Norman staircase (NS). N marks the site of the Northgate, from which point eastwards the walls and the towers erected by Prior Chillenden (1390-1411) still stand. Behind these walls once ra.n Queningate Lane (Q), with the older Norman Court Wa.11 behind it.1 It was usual •to have always a 1 Arch. Oant., vii (1868), 202. 201 17 THE OLD RECTORY OF ST. ALPHEGE, CANTERBURY clear passage-way behind town walls, for obvious defence reasons, and parts of these lanes still survive in Canterbury and elsewhere. Northgate formerly had the chancel of St. Mary Northgate over it, and through this point the original line of the Roman road ran southwards, as indicated on the plan, Fig. I. When Lanfranc decided that he needed more space, he pushed the old boundary westwards to the present line of Palace Street (P), thus creating the awkward double bend in the part now known as the Borough (B), and so providing himself with enough land for his new palace, parts of which Origlnn, SoundAO' ........... . Roma;n Road --- ---- r.,.,..,;';;'' 􀀐";;....:. ' ";;,.. '􀀑· tT Su FIG. 1. Sketch Map. N Northgate, Site of. CW City Walls and Towers, temp. Prior Chillenden (1390-1411). Q Queninga.te Lane, with the Norman Court WnJJ. NS The Norman Stairway. T Norman Tower. B The Borough. P Pa.lace Street. St A St . .Alphege's Lane and Church. PL The Archbishop's Pa.lace. TL Tuma.gain Lane: S Sun Lane. G Guildhall Street. Bu Burga.te Street. B Site of Burga.to. 202 THE OLD RECTORY OF ST. ALPHEGE, CANTERBURY still survive (PL). It may be assumed that in requisitioning the twentyseven messuages and, as we have hinted, one church, alternative plots were offered on the western side of Palace Street. A fact which supports this is that there are just twenty-eight plots there today, the famous old leaning building, the King's School shop at the north end, being no. 28. In any case, the church must have been newly sited here at the corner of St. Alphege's Lane (St A) and re-dedicated to Canterbury's latest saint and martyr, Alphege. Alphege, or Alphage, was Archbishop of Canterbury during that city's greatest disaster, its destruction by the Danes in the year lOll. Although an old man, Alphege personally conducted the spirited defence of the city, which held out for three weeks against overwhelming odds. Eventually, however, a traitor is said to have opened one of the gates,2 and the Danes fought their way in house by house, and street by street. Finally, Alphege was forced to yield, and he was held to ransom, being taken to Greenwich, where the Danes had their main camp. Here, a year later, on the Vigil of Easter of 19th April, 1012, he was pelted to death with ox-bones by Danish warriors, during a drunken orgy after a feast. Sweyn, the Danish king, later became a Christian, and Alphege was proclaimed a martyr in 1023, when his remains were moved to Canterbury. His tomb was lost when the newly-rebuilt cathedral was consumed by fire again, this time accidentally,a in 1067. The site of his interment is thought to be in the present presbytery, just behind the tomb of Archbishop Bouchier. The present church of St. Alphege has a little Norman work at its west end, but it was practically rebuilt in the thirteenth century, and again much altered towards the end of the fifteenth century, when a new nave roof and arcade, and larger windows were inserted. The small building known as no. 8 Palace Street is of exceptional interest, as much of the ground floor dates from about 1250, when the church was largely rebuilt. It was then a small dwelling in the typical Norman style, with a first-floor hall and an undercroft. Its overall· dimensions of some 16 by 25 feet may seem small, but it must be remembered that in the thirteenth century only very important houses were larger than this. Even today there are still many narrow plots in the centre of Canterbury and elsewhere, which are unaltered in size since the twelfth century, as Dr. Urry has proved.4 On entering no. 8, the most striking feature is a central pier, or pedestal, ·with double stone arches right and left, supporting massive 2 E. F. Lincoln, London, Tlw Story of Oanterbury, 1955. s Arch. Oant., vii (1868), 2. ' W. G. Urry, Oanterbury under the Angevin Kings, 1967. 203 THE OLD RECTORY OF ST. ALPHEGE, CANTERBURY W3 AS ••.•• a •••• PI Ar Ped Ar 1 7 Wt tC !HT ... Jl':rG. 2. CY G Sir oak joists. Behind the pedestal, the joists are a foot wido, and yet they have the support of a, great beam. This enormous st,rength is at first a little puzzling, but an examination of the floor above reveals the interesting fact that it is not a boarded floor, but apparently paved with heavy stone flags, now mostly smoothed over with a. modern composition material. The flagstones still show here and there, however, and two have been left loose, apparently to allow electric wiring to be la.id between the joists. This is indeed an important discovery, as it has never so far been proved how the Normans could have had an open hearth on a floor supported by wooden joists. This very question was debated in the last volume of Archwologi,a Oanti,ana,6 when rusa Arch,. Oant., lx'lOCiii (1968), 151. 204 Ax AS B Ba. C 02 OY Dl D2 D3 D4 D8 D9 Fl F2 G J K M p PD Ped Pi PL R s Str So SF Sh St Sto Wl W2 W3 W4 W5 W6 W7 we WL WR X yy AA THE OLD RECTORY OF ST. ALPHEGE, CANTERBURY . KJW TO Fxos. 2 to 5. In alphabetical order. Stone Axches, springing from Central Pier. Adjoining Shop, no. 6. Cl3 beam, now encased. Modern Bathroom. Corbel, carved in the Form of a Head. Crowned Head, carved on Keystone. Churchyard. 013 Stone Doorway, now partly glazed. Cl 7 moulded Doorway with square Head, and Heck Door. 1888 Doorway. Rebuilt 013 Stone Doorway, with original Pin Hinges. Main Doorway of 1665 Rectory, demolished 1876. Gothic Stone Doorway still connecting Street with Garden. Tudor Stone Fireplace removed from the first-floor Front. Tudor Fireplace, still in 8itu. Garden. Jetties, or Overhangs, on the Street Front. Kitchens of no. 8, and the Old Rectory, both seventeenth century. Mortises for 015 Framework, before Wall was removed. Parlour, both in no. 8 before 1888, and in Old Rectory. Priest's Door, leading into Chancel of Church. Stone Pier. or Pedestal. 013 Capita.I on Pillar. Cl 7 Panelling. 015 Rafter and Wall-plate, piercing 1740 Wardrobe. Small glazed Squint, 5 in. wide, by 1 ft. 3 in. high. Street. Scullery of Old Rectory, Old Shopfront, brought from elsewhere. Shop. Cl 7 Winder Stairs. Storeroom. 013 Lancet Window, with some old Glass. Blocked thirteenth-century La.neat, Blocked Opening, possibly Stairs. Blocked p