St Martin's Church: Reputedly the oldest continuously- used church in England

Of all the churches in Canterbury, none, with the possible exception of the Cathedral, has such a place in the city's history as St Martin's.

The church started life as a chapel for Queen Bertha, the Frankish Christian wife of Ethelbert, King of Kent in the sixth Century A.D. The chapel may have been a Roman building reused, or built from Roman materials, the distinctive thin bricks still visible in the chancel walls today. With the arrival of St Augustine in 597, St Martin's chapel was used as their place of worship, and the site of Ethelbert's baptism, before the building of the first Cathedral, and the Abbey of St Peter and St Paul (later St Augustine's Abbey).

St Martin was soon too small ( Bede tells us that this building was used as the first missionary base by Augustine's monks), and the main nave of the church was constructed in the 7th Century. The chancel was extended in the 12th/13th Centuries, and the tower a late 14th Century addition. The Saxon font at St Martin's is very unusual, being constructed of 22 separate stones, with later Norman carving.

In the 14th Century, St Martin's was home to one of the earliest grammar schools in England; a complaint was made that more than the permitted 13 pupils had been admitted, and that the excess had hid when an inspection was made!

In the 19th Century, the Victorians showed a lack of reverence to the ancient history of the city; one of St Martin's vicars used the supposed tomb of Queen Bertha as a base for a heating stove, and was surprised at criticism from pilgrims! (Bertha was actually buried at the Abbey).

Records at Cathedral Archives

St Martin's Church- South side of nave and chancel, showing Roman and Saxon walling

Famous Burials

Thomas Sidney Cooper Died 1902. Landscape and animal painter.

Mary Tourtel Died 1948. The creator of Rupert the Bear in 1920 for the 'Daily Express', her husband Herbert Bird Tourtel being the deputy editor.