Ethelbert & Bertha Project
A scheme has been launched to erect in Canterbury seven-foot bronze statues of King Ethelbert and Queen Bertha of Kent, patrons of St. Augustine and of the Conversion of the English in the closing years of the sixth century. The motive for doing this was a realization of widespread unawareness, not only amongst visitors, but also the local public, of how Canterbury came to occupy its present status as one of the world's major religious centres instead of being simply another Kentish market town.
Ethelbert was not only the first Christian English King but also the greatest of Kent's rulers, according to Bede the third 'Bretwalda' or overlord of all the English kingdoms south of the Humber. It is significant that Pope Gregory the Great addresses him as Rex Cantuariorum but as Rex Anglorum. Following his conversion, he provided lands at Canterbury, Rochester and London (St. Paul's), a monastery at Canterbury (later St. Augustine's), as well as the first English school. He also issued circa 603, a Code of Laws, the first document ever to be written in the English tongue.
Bertha was the daughter of the Frankish King of Paris, and as a Merovingian, and great granddaughter of Clovis, founder of the French monarchy, a member of the most powerful dynasty on the Continent. She was brought up as a Christian and educated at Tours, marrying Ethelbert at about the age of eighteen. Coming to Canterbury circa 580, she brought her own chaplain with her (Bishop Liudhard) and worshipped in the old Romano-British church on the Richborough road, later rededicated to St. Martin of Tours, which had been renovated for her. She undoubtedly prepared the way for her husband's conversion, so that the Pope, in writing to her, said that the word of her fame had even reached the Emperor in Constantinople.
The maquettes (half size prototypes of the two statues) were modelled by Steve Melton of the Kent Institute of Art & Design, an artist of national reputation in this field. Although nothing is known of the king and queen's actual appearance, care has been taken to reproduce, as authentically as possible, their dress, hairstyle, jewellery and accoutrements. In their recent visit to Canterbury on Maundy Thursday, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh saw the maquettes and expressed their interest and approval, the Duke asking where the statues were to be placed.
They will be erected on Lady Wootton's Green, the garden lying between the gateway of St. Augustine's Abbey and the City Wall. The king will be shown coming from his Hall, where now stands the Cathedral, and the queen returning from St. Martin's church, the two placed about a dozen paces apart. Thus the statues will not only be an attractive feature on what is known as 'Queen Bertha's Walk', but will form a crucial link between the two most important sites (Cathedral and Abbey) of Canterbury as a World Heritage Site.
An appeal for £80,000 has been launched by the Lord Mayor to fund the two statues and their plinths. Although this is a large sum the names of donors contributing £4,000 or more will be inscribed on the monument, the names of small donations will be heavily influential with the major funding bodies being approached. Anyone who would like to support this important civic heritage project, designed to enhance the beauty and interest of the City, is invited to contact the Chairman of the Canterbury Commemoration Society the sponsoring body:
Mr Martin Taylor, Any donations and cheques (payable to 'The Canterbury Commemoration Society', reg. charity no.1057977) will be most gratefully received and acknowledged.