West Gate -- Canterbury, Kent, UK
N 51° 16.896 E 001° 04.555
31U E 365812 N 5682898
The Gothic West Gate to the City of Canterbury, on St Peter's Street, was built in 1380
Waymark Code: WMT4D5
Location: South East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 09/23/2016
Views: 6
The west gate to the city of Canterbury was built around 1379, to allow entrance to the city from the London Road. It is still in use today, but as a museum.
From British History Online: (
visit link)
". . .WESTGATE was built by archbishop Sudbury, in king Richard II.'s reign, in the room of the antient one, which was become ruinous, over which there was built a church. This gate, situated at the west end of the city, through which the high road passes towards London, is the largest and best built of any the city has, making a very handsome appearance, standing between two lofty and spacious round towers, erected in the river, on the western side of it. It is built of squared stone, and is embattled, portculliesed, and machecollated, having a bridge of two arches, belonging to the archbishop, over the western branch of the Stour, adjoining to it. Over this gate is the common gaol or prison, both for malefactors and debtors within the jurisdiction of this city and county of it, and has been so from the time of the building of the present gate, but certainly so from the 31st of king Henry VI. for then, as king Edward IV. in his charter, recites, he granted to the city by his charter, the keeping of his gaol, at the Westgate of his city of Canterbury, for prisoners imprisoned within the city and suburbs, for whatever crime or cause they should be taken, to be detained in it by themselves or their officers. The gates themselves of this, as well as of the other two gates left standing, have been lately taken away by the city, as supposed to be of no further use. The arms of archbishop Juxon, with those of the see of Canterbury, were carved on these gates here, as well as on those of St. George's and Burgate; they having been all new made and set up by that archbishop, at the Restoration, in the room of those destroyed and burnt by the Puritans, in 1648.. . ."
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This category is focused only to original Gothic architecture, not to pseudo-Gothic, neo-Gothic or Gothic Revival. You can not find this kind of architecture outside of "Old World", moreover this architecture appeared in ca XIIth century (early Gothic) and the last buildings are from cca XVIth (late Gothic) century...