Canterbury in the days of Isaac[1] and Elizabeth
Jesus Hospital (an almshouse)
was built in 1599. By the 17th century, Canterbury's population was
5,000; of whom 2,000 were
French-speaking Protestant
Huguenots, who had begun fleeing persecution and war in the
Spanish Netherlands in the mid-16th century. The
Huguenots introduced silk weaving into the city, which by
1676 had outstripped wool weaving.
Click below the old engraved map of Canterbury to see a collection of some excellent pictures of old Canterbury buildings by Stephen Bax a lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University College in the Language Studies Department.
Canterbury Maps & Buildings
At the end of the 17th century, when Isaac[1] and Elizabeth arrived, the travel writer Celia Fiennes said that Canterbury was a flourishing town. She described it as a noble city with handsome and neat buildings. Most of them were made of brick. Read more in http://www.localhistories.org/canterbury.html "A Brief History of Canterbury" written by Tim Lambert.
In the 18th century Canterbury dwindled to being a quiet market town although it did have a leather industry and a paper making industry. An interesting and detailed description of the city in the 18th Century can be found in a survey by Edward Hasted published in 1800 and found at British History Online.
The Wikipedia article on Canterbury covers this period and continues the history of Canterbury up to the present day.
Canterbury Today
On a recent visit to Canterbury I found a well ordered, happy and bustling town.
As an undergraduate, nearly fifty
five years ago, good
heavens!, it was my local town. I wined my prospects there. ("....and a bottle of Graves please waiter")
very close to the Marlow Theatre. Of course this time I saw it as a tourist, but that industry was
tastefully subdued; not overpowering as it is in York. Everywhere is well signposted. One soon becomes accustomed
to the warren of winding streets and learns the etiquette for navigating them confidently by car.
Peter Collinson's "Canterbury
Tour Map" -
http://www.hillside.co.uk/tour/map.html
offers many views over the years from a clickable map.
The Cathedral was most politely presented to me by the gate keeper. It was a joy to be welcomed back a second time next day; the entrance fee waived because one had become a regular or in my case wanted to be near my roots again. For the archaeologically minded see http://www.hillside.co.uk/arch/cathedral/nave.html and for the devout http://www.canterbury-cathedral.org/ . Enjoy 360 degree views of the Cathedral in a Visual tour of the Cathedral
.