St Dunstan's Church

(Image taken from Kent Family History Society's CD-ROM 09 "Kent Churches", containing images of 261 churches, 124 of these including a brief history.)

St Dunstan's church probably began life as the site of a temple in a Roman cemetery (the Romans always had their cemeteries outside the walls of their cities). The site of St Dunstan's is on the corner of the Roman road from London, where it approached the city on a gravel shelf, then turned to drop down to the ford across the river.

The current church is of late Saxon or early Norman origin, largely rebuilt in the 15th Century. The west tower is Perpendicular Gothic. In 1174, Henry II donned sackcloth at St Dunstan's, before entering the city barefoot, in penance for the murder of Thomas Becket in 1170.

The Tudor period saw St Dunstan's inextricably linked with the Roper family, who are buried in St Nicholas' Chantry chapel, added about 1524. In 1535, Margaret Roper, the daughter of Sir Thomas More, brought his head to St Dunstan's, after 14 days display on London Bridge; his head is still locked away in the church.

Records in Cathedral Archives

Site updated 26th January 2012