Westgate Gardens - 4 Things to Know Before Visiting

Westgate was built during the One Hundred Years’ War to defend Canterbury from foreign incursion. It was the largest and arguably the finest of the country’s surviving medieval gateways. The 60-foot high stronghold did not stand alone, as it does now, but was approached vero a drawbridge across the River Stour, and flanked by impressive walls. It is the last survivor of Canterbury's seven medieval gates, still well-preserved and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks.

The Beaney House of Art & Knowledge is an Art Gallery, Library and Visitor Information Centre situated in the heart of historic Canterbury. This award winning facility provides state-of-the-art exhibition galleries, excellent educational facilities and a varied programme of events for all ages.

Canterbury was fortified by the Roman in the third century AD. These walls were still standing in the late 1060s when the Normans built a motte-and-bailey fortification there. This was replaced with Canterbury Castle in the late eleventh century. The town walls were rebuilt in the fourteenth century. The large 80 feet high keep, the third largest in England after Dover and Rochester, was rebuilt in stone between 1086 and 1120 close to the Roman Worthgate.

Canterbury Roman Museum is Kent’s only Roman Museum; providing a fascinating and family-friendly insight into life in Roman Britain. The museum was established in 1961, but it has been under threat of closure as of 2009. It houses many excavated artifacts from Roman Canterbury, including the important late Roman silver hoard known as the Canterbury Treasure, together with reconstructions of the Roman town.

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. Its cathedral has been the primary ecclesiastical centre of England since the early 7th century CE. Before the English Reformation the cathedral was part of a Benedictine monastic community known as Christ Church, Canterbury, as well as being the seat of the archbishop.

St Augustine's Abbey was one of the most important monasteries in medieval England. One of Britain’s oldest remaining monastic sites, the abbey was originally built as a burial place for the kings of Kent. Much of the layout of the abbey has been preserved and its ruins can be seen around the grounds. After the abbey's dissolution, it underwent dismantlement until 1848. Since 1848, part of the site has been used for educational purposes and the abbey ruins have been preserved for their histori