Canterbury, Kent : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Canterbury. You may be able to find further references to Canterbury in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Archbishop's Palace precinct Bartholomew
Canterbury city, parliamentary and municipal borough Bartholomew
CANTERBURY a city Imperial
CHRISTCHURCH a precinct Imperial
East Bridge Hospital parish Bartholomew
EASTBRIDGE HOSPITAL an extra-parochial tract Imperial
GREGORY (ST.) a vile Imperial
Old Castle parish Bartholomew
OLD CASTLE a precinct Imperial
St Gregory parish Bartholomew

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Canterbury.

Place Type of entry Source
BLACK-FRIARS an extra-parochial spot Imperial
NEW CROSS a hamlet Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Canterbury within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
William Camden Kent 18
Celia Fiennes 1697: Through Kent to Canterbury and Dover 9
William Cobbett Sept. 3rd to 6th, 1823: From Dover to the Wen 6
Daniel Defoe Letter 2, Part 2: Canterbury and Sussex 5
Daniel Defoe Letter 2, Part 1: Kent Coast and Maidstone 4
John Wesley 1757-9: "I do Indeed Live by Preaching"; Advice to Travelers; French Prisoners 4
John Byng A Tour into Kent, 1790 3
William Camden The Division of Britaine 2
William Camden Yorkshire: West Riding 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 3: Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 2
John Wesley 1754-6: Retirement in Paddington; Wesley Slandered; Premonitions 2
John Wesley 1769-70: Opens a New Church; Comments on Rousseau; Geology; Swedenborg 2
Gerald of Wales Book II, Ch. 1: Saint David's 1
William Camden Middlesex and London 1
William Cobbett Jan. 2nd, 1822: Sussex Journal 1
William Cobbett Jan. 21st to 22nd, 1822: Huntingdon Journal 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 4 - Dec. 30, 1736: Massachusetts, and back to England 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 2, Part 3: Hampshire and Surrey 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 3: Berkshire and Buckinghamshire 1
Daniel Defoe Appendix to the second volume 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 9: Eastern Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 12, Part 1: South-Western Scotland 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 13, Part 1: Fife and Perth 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 13, Part 2: Dundee, Aberdeen and the Highlands 1
George Head Visiting Mull 1
Paul Hentzner Departure: Canterbury and Dover 1
John Wesley 1749-50: Wesley and the Soldiers; In Ireland and Wales Again; Wesley Burned in Effigy 1
John Wesley 1751-3: Wesley's Marriage; Cornwall Smugglers; Illness and Recovery 1
John Wesley 1765-8: Justice for Methodists; Methodist Character; Instructions to Parents 1
John Wesley 1771-3: Windsor Park; Wesley as Art Critic; Glasgow and Perth; Preaches to 30,000 People 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Staplegate 0 2
Holycross Westgate 0 3
St Dunstan 0 2
Thanington 0 2
Mint 0 2
Fordwich 4 2
Nackington 0 2
Hackington 1 3
St Nicholas Hospital 0 1
Patrixbourne 1 2
Milton 0 2
Harbledown 1 2
Bekesbourne 1 3
Littlebourne 0 2
Bridge 0 2
Downhamford 0 2
Lower Hardres 2 3
Horton 0 2
Preston By Wingham 0 4
Sturry 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Canterbury. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
ARCHBISHOPS PALACE John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
CAER KENT William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CANTERBERRY Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
CANTERBERY Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
CANTERBURIE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CANTERBURY John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
CANTUARIA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CANT WARA BURIG William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CHRISTCHURCH John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
DARVENUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DOROBERNIA William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
DUROVERNUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
EAST BRIDGE HOSPITAL John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
EASTBRIDGE HOSPITAL John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
GREGORY ST John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
OLD CASTLE John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
ST GREGORY John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.