206 THE BEITISH ISLES. 



gun-cotton and gunpowder works, and oyster beds. It is the shipping port of 

 Canterbury, and a place of considerable antiquity, with an old abbey church of 

 great size and beauty. Whit stable, another shipping port of Canterbury, lies 

 farther to the east, and is princi})ally noticeable for its oyster beds. The owners 

 of the oyster fisheries here have formed a co-operative association, which divides 

 the produce of tlie fisheries amongst its nuunbers. 



The northern coast of Kent, and more especially the Isle of Thanet, presenting 

 its bold cliffs towards the German Ocean, abounds in watering-places much 

 frequented by London pleasure-seekers. Uerne Bay, though of recent origin, is 

 rapidly rising into importance. A few miles to the east of it the towers of 

 Reculver Church form a prominent landmark (see p. 151). Margate, on the 

 northern coast of the Isle of Thanet, is one of the most popular watering-places 

 in the neighbourhood of London. Doubling the North Foreland, with its far-seen 

 lighthouse, we pass Broad-stairs, a quiet> place, with excellent sands for bathing, 

 and reach Ramsgate, a town which is almost as much frequented as Margate, and 

 which has an excellent harbour. Pegwell Bay, which adjoins it on the south, is 

 noted for its shrimps. 



The river Stour is ti'ibutary at present to the bay just named, but formerly 

 flowed into the arm of the sea which separated the Isle of Thanet from the 

 mainland. Sandwich, a very interesting old town, with many curious buildings, 

 stands on the alluvial tract through which the Stour takes its winding course. 

 Formerly it was a place of very considerable importance, ranking next to Hastings 

 amongst the Cinque Ports, but the alluvial soil washed down by the river has 

 silted up the " Haven," and the sea lies now at a distance of 2 miles. A short 

 distance to the north of it rise the ruins of the Roman castle of lîidapiœ (Rich' 

 borough), perhaps the most striking relic of old Rome existing in Britain. Neaj 

 its head the Stour flows past Ashford, where there are the extensive railway workji 

 of the South-Eastern Company; but the largest town within its basin, and historically 

 the most interesting of all Kent, is Canterhur;/, the Durorernam of the Romans. 

 Canterbury is perhaps the oldest seat of Christianity in England, and the venerable 

 church of St. Martin's, with its ivy-clad tower, partly constructed of Roman 

 bricks, has been styled the " mother church of England," and dates back to pre- 

 Saxon times. Since the days of St. Augustine, Canterbury has been the seat of 

 the Primate of all England, though at present the Archbishop's principal residence 

 is Lambeth Palace in London. Churches and ecclesiastical buildincrs of everv kind 

 abound in Canterbury, and constitute its individuality. The bold mass of the 

 cathedral towers above all. Founded in 1070, hut destroyed by fire in 1174, the 

 vast edifice has been almost completely rebuilt since the latter year. The 

 church, as it were " a cathedral within a cathedral," is the work of William of 

 Sens (1174 — 1182), and the oldest example of the pointed style in England. The 

 choir is rich in precious monuments, including that of Edwai'd the Black Prince. 

 The shrine of Thomas à Becket, who was slain at the foot of the altar by order of 

 Henry II. for braving the royal authority (1170), was a goal which attracted 

 pilgrims from all parts of the world, and Canterbury grew rich on the offerings of 



