St Alphege church was possibly founded pre-Conquest. A curious incident occurred here in the 14th Century, when a schoolboy named Richard Hall assaulted an usher in the church, and was excommunicated by his headmaster, John Everard; beats caning as a punishment! Master Hall issued several writs in protest, and was jailed for several weeks by the Archbishop's Chancellor to prevent his appearance in court, amidst accusations of bribery of the Sheriff. It was two years before the vicar of St Alphege absolved him.

In the 17th Century, the arrival of Flemish and Huguenot weavers fleeing persecution proved a boost to Canterbury's ailing economy. St Alphege was the church initially allocated for their use, although they soon outgrew this venue, and moved to the Cathedral Crypt. The French Protestant chapel is in the Cathedral to this day.

Also in the 17th Century, the puritan Robert Cushman married at St Alphege. Robert is famous for hiring the Mayflower at an inn in Palace Street. Robert followed a year later in 1621 on the Speedwell. One of his descendants was General Robert E. Lee.

St Alphege church became redundant in 1982, but had a new lease of life as the Canterbury Urban Studies Centre, later renamed the Canterbury Environment Centre, and was for a short while the home of the KFHS Resource Centre. The Centre is now closed, and the building is used by the King's School.

(Flemish Birth and Baptisms, 1603-1641 in St Alphege Registers)

John Caxton Died 1485. A mercer, alleged by John Cowper in his introduction to the registers to be the brother of William Caxton, the famous printer, but no proof given.