Westgate, Canterbury facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Westgate |
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| West Gate Towers Museum | |
| Part of Canterbury city wall | |
| St Peter's Street, Canterbury, Kent CT1 2BQ | |
Westgate
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| Type | Gatehouse |
| Height | 60 feet (18 m) |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Canterbury City Council |
| Condition | Well-preserved |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1380 |
| Built by | Archbishop Simon Sudbury |
| In use | 1380−present |
| Materials | Kentish ragstone |
The Westgate is a huge, old gatehouse in Canterbury, England. It's like a giant doorway that was once part of the city's protective walls. Standing about 18 meters (60 feet) tall, it's the biggest city gate still left in England!
Built around 1379 from a strong stone called Kentish ragstone, the Westgate is the only one of Canterbury's seven medieval gates that still stands today. It's very well-preserved and is a famous landmark in the city. Cars still drive right through its two big round towers.
This important historical building is now home to the West Gate Towers Museum. You can also find fun, historically themed escape rooms inside!
Contents
History of Westgate
Early Days: Roman Times to the 18th Century
The city of Canterbury was first surrounded by walls by the Romans around 300 AD. The Westgate has always been the most important gate. This is because it was the main entrance from London and most of Kent.
The gate you see today was built in the Middle Ages around 1380. It replaced an older Roman gate. There was a gate here even during the Norman conquest in 1066.
For a long time, a church called the Church of the Holy Cross sat on top of the gate. But both the church and the old gate were taken down in 1379. A powerful leader named Archbishop Simon Sudbury rebuilt the gate. Sadly, he died in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, not long after the gate was finished.
Some people think the gate was built mainly for pilgrims. These were people visiting the shrine of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. However, the new gate was also a strong defense and a symbol of power. Its building was paid for partly by Archbishop Sudbury and partly by taxes. This money was meant to protect the city from possible attacks by the French.
From the 1400s to the 1800s, the Westgate was used as Canterbury's prison. In 1453, King Henry VI allowed the city to keep a jail there. The guard rooms, which were once heavily lined with wood, became cells for prisoners. These included people who owed money and criminals. There was even a special grated cage where some prisoners could ask passers-by for alms (money or food).
In 1648, after a riot, Parliamentarians burned down all the wooden doors of Canterbury's city gates. New doors were put in place in 1660. However, these were removed at the end of the 1700s.
The Westgate in the 19th and 21st Centuries
In the 1800s, parts of the city walls connected to the Westgate were removed. A jailer's house was built next to the gate between 1823 and 1829. This building later became the main office for the Canterbury City Police. Today, it's a bar and cafe. Its dining room is still called "The Parade Room."
An old iron bridge connects the Westgate to this building. It was built around the same time. Also, new roads and passages were made around the Westgate. This helped with the increasing amount of traffic.
Towards the end of the 1800s, the Westgate was used to store the city's old records. Then, in 1906, a museum was opened inside the gatehouse.
In 2009–2010, the Canterbury City Council thought about closing the museum. This idea was not popular. More money was given to keep it open while other ways to run it were explored. In 2011, the museum reopened. A man named Charles Lambie, who was in charge of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, helped with this. He planned to add an extension to the building. This new part would focus on the Westgate's history as a prison.
Sadly, Lambie passed away in 2012. He had invested a lot of money in the project. This led to the museum closing again and new questions about what would happen to the building. In 2014, a company called One Pound Lane took over the lease. They said they would reopen the museum and also add a restaurant and bar. The Westgate finally reopened to the public on August 3, 2015.
Today, the Westgate is still the largest surviving city gate in England. It is a protected historical building. In 2012, there was a test to stop cars from driving through the gate.
Architecture of Westgate
The Westgate is built with strong, cut stone called Kentish ragstone. It has thick bases at the bottom of its round towers. It also has battlements (the notched tops of walls for defense) and machicolations (openings in the floor for dropping things on attackers).
The gate has eighteen gunloops, which are small openings for firing guns. This is a lot for a gateway! They are also some of the earliest gunholes found in Britain. These gunloops were likely added by the early 1400s. The gate also had a drawbridge over the River Stour, a portcullis (a heavy metal gate that drops down), and strong wooden doors.
The gateway has three floors. The ground floor has a vaulted (arched) passage for people to walk through. There are entrances to the towers on each side. Each tower has a room on the ground floor with a fireplace and four gunloops. The north tower's ground-floor room has a spiral staircase leading to the upper floors.
The first floor has a large room with a fireplace. This room originally held the machinery for the portcullis. From this room, you could enter the upper rooms of each tower. Each of these tower rooms also has a fireplace and three gunloops. A staircase from the north tower leads up to the roof.
The roof above the large central room has a walk with battlements. From here, you could access the tops of both towers and the machicolations. There are also two small rooms at the top of each tower, each with two gunports. This upper part of the tower was not built as strongly as the lower parts. This might be because it was built quickly during the Peasants' Revolt or added later. In the late 1700s, the main hall over the gate was divided into three rooms. The square lantern you see on the roof today was added then, along with the wooden doors and cell linings.
Museum Exhibits
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The Westgate Museum has 17 large, painted plaster models called maquettes. These models are six feet tall. They were made between 1847 and 1851. They were created as practice models for the bronze statues that now stand in the Lords Chamber at Westminster Palace.
These maquettes represent the important men who signed the Magna Carta. This was a very important document in English history. Each of the fifteen barons and two bishops is named at the bottom of their model.
In 1908, three of these maquettes were shown in the museum. Two were still on display at the Westgate in 2013. The rest were put into storage in the north tower's ground floor room in 1987. They were forgotten until museum staff found them again in May 2008. This happened when the building was flooded. Most of them are still there today.
Several sculptors created these maquettes. Some of them include John Thomas, Patrick MacDowell, and Frederick Thrupp. As of 2021, three of the maquettes have been fixed up. These are Stephen Langton, Thomas Robert Fitzwalter, and Sieur de Quincy. They are now displayed at The Beaney in Canterbury.
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Civil War armour
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A 19th-century model of Knight Templar St Maur, who signed the Magna Carta
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Stephen Langton by John Thomas
