Early history The Canterbury area has been inhabited since
prehistoric times.
Lower Paleolithic axes, and
Neolithic and
Bronze Age pots have been found in the area. Canterbury was first recorded as the main settlement of the
Celtic tribe of the
Cantiaci, which inhabited most of modern-day
Kent. In the 1st century AD, the
Romans captured the settlement and named it
Durovernum Cantiacorum. Despite being counted as one of the 28 cities of
Sub-Roman Britain, Over the next 100 years, an
Anglo-Saxon community formed within the
city walls, as
Jutish refugees arrived, possibly intermarrying with the locals. The town's new importance led to its revival, and trades developed in pottery, textiles, and leather. By 630,
gold coins were being struck at the Canterbury mint. In 842 and 851, Canterbury suffered great loss of life during
Danish raids.
11th–16th centuries The
siege of Canterbury saw a large Viking army besiege Canterbury in 1011, culminating in the city being pillaged. Remembering the destruction caused by the Danes, the inhabitants of Canterbury did not resist
William the Conqueror's invasion in 1066. Canterbury Castle was captured by the French
Prince Louis during his 1215 invasion of England, before the death of
John caused his English supporters to desert his cause and support the young
Henry III.
Black Death reached Canterbury in 1348. At 10,000, Canterbury had the 10th largest population in England; by the early 16th century, the population had fallen to 3,000. In 1363, during the
Hundred Years' War, a Commission of Inquiry found disrepair, stone-robbing and ditch-filling had led to the Roman wall becoming eroded. Between 1378 and 1402, the wall was virtually rebuilt, and new wall towers were added. In 1381, during
Wat Tyler's
Peasants' Revolt, the castle and Archbishop's Palace were sacked, and
Archbishop Sudbury was beheaded in London. In 1413,
Henry IV became the only sovereign to be buried at the cathedral. In 1448 Canterbury was granted a
city charter, which gave it a mayor and a
high sheriff; the city still has a
Lord Mayor and Sheriff. In 1519 a public cage for talkative women and other wrongdoers was set up next to the town's pillory at the Bullstake, now the Buttermarket. In 1522 a stone cross with gilt lead stars was erected at the same place, and painted with
bice and gilded by Florence the painter.
History of Huguenot refugees In the mid-16th century many
Huguenots, experiencing persecution and conflict in the
Low Countries, fled and resettled in
Reformed regions such as England. Canterbury hosted the first congregation of so-called 'refugee strangers' in the country. This first Huguenot church in Canterbury was founded around 1548, in part by
Jan Utenhove who relocated from
Strasbourg, alongside
Valérand Poullain and
François de la Rivière. When Utenhove travelled to London in 1549, Francois de la Rivière remained to lead the congregation. With the accession of
Mary I, the Huguenot residents of Canterbury were compelled to flee in 1553–4 alongside the English
Marian exiles to
Emden,
Wesel,
Zürich, Strasbourg,
Frankfurt, and later
Basel,
Geneva, and
Aarau. After the accession of
Elizabeth I, a small number of Huguenots returned to London, including Jan Utenhove in 1559. In 1575, the Huguenot population of Canterbury were granted use of the church of
St Alphedge but in the following year had begun to use the crypt of
Canterbury Cathedral as their church. The Church of the Crypt swiftly became the nucleus of the Huguenot community in Canterbury. By the 17th century, French-speaking Huguenots comprised two-fifths of Canterbury's population. The Huguenots had a large influence on the economy of Canterbury, and introduced silk weaving into the city which had outstripped wool weaving by 1676.
17th century–present Canterbury remained an important city in the 17th century.
Charles I and
Henrietta Maria visited in 1625; musicians played whilst the couple entered the city under a velvet canopy supported by six men holding poles. In 1647, during the
English Civil War, riots broke out. The riots became known as the "Plum Pudding Riots". The rioters' trial the following year led to a Kent revolt against Parliamentarian forces, contributing to the start of the
second phase of the war. However, Canterbury surrendered peacefully to Parliamentarians at the
Battle of Maidstone. By 1770, the castle had fallen into disrepair, and many parts of it were demolished during the late 18th century and early 19th century. In 1787 all the gates in the city wall, except for
Westgate—the city jail—were demolished as a result of a commission that found them impeding to new coach travel.
Canterbury Prison opened in 1808 just outside the city boundary. By 1820 the silk weaving in the city had been supplanted by imported Indian
muslins was opened in 1830; bankrupt by 1844, it was purchased by the
South Eastern Railway, which connected the city to its larger network in 1846. The
London, Chatham & Dover Railway arrived in 1860; the competition and cost-cutting between the lines was resolved by merging them as the
South Eastern & Chatham in 1899. Between 1830 and 1900, the city's population grew from 15,000 to 24,000.
Mahatma Gandhi visited Canterbury in October 1931. During the
Second World War, 10,445 bombs dropped during 135 separate raids destroyed 731 homes and 296 other buildings in the city, including the missionary college and
Simon Langton Girls' Grammar School. 119 civilian people died through enemy action in the borough. The most devastating raid was on 1 June 1942 during the
Baedeker Blitz. A ring road was constructed in stages outside the city walls to alleviate growing traffic problems in the city centre, which was later pedestrianised. The biggest expansion of the city occurred in the 1960s, with the arrival of the
University of Kent at Canterbury and
Christ Church College. Between 1999 and 2005, the
Whitefriars Shopping Centre underwent major redevelopment. In 2000, during the redevelopment, a major archaeological project was undertaken by the
Canterbury Archaeological Trust, known as the Big Dig, which was supported by
Channel Four's
Time Team. == Geography ==