Canterbury County Council Boundary Stones (2)

Following on from the previous post, these are the ten stones in existence that I am currently aware of.

Beverley Meadow (south west edge) 3c 1890
Beverley Meadow (south east edge)  3d 189?
St. Stephen's railway crossing            3g 1899
Langton Lane                                    26a  undated
Church Lane, Nackington                 29   .....
Orchard near Merton Farm               30   .....
'A copse south of Thanington'          ...    .....
South bank of Stour at Wincheap     33? 1890
North bank of Stour at Wincheap     33g undated
Cherry Garden Road                        (illegible)

Where ? indicates an uncertain inscription and ... indicates the inscription has yet to be seen by me.

I picked this map up today from the Westgate Hall collectors' fair. The red line marks the extent of the 'Liberties of the City of Canterbury' although I'm not sure that this is analogous to the C.C.C. boundary discussed here. The south west boundary certainly doesn't seem to match up with some of the stones listed above. Unfortunately the dealer I obtained it from did not know of its source; it is certainly pre-1846 (and probably pre-1830) as no railways are shown. The presence of the barracks gives an earliest date of 1794 which was when construction of the cavalry barracks commenced. 

Update: The map is taken from the Topographical Dictionary, circa 1850. Drawn by R. Creighton and engraved by J. & C. Walker. The green line shows the boundary of the old borough, the red line the boundary of the new borough. Now I just need to find out what 'old' and 'new' refer to!

Second Update: The map is a copy of an 1832 Boundary Commission report: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps/sheet/bc_reports_1832_v2/Kent_Canterbury

Map of Canterbury taken from the Topographical Dictionary c.1850

Canterbury County Council Boundary Stones (1)

In 1448 the reigning monarch Henry VI awarded Canterbury a city charter which allowed it to have a mayor. In 1461, not to be outdone by his Lancastrian rival for the throne, Edward IV decreed by his charter that the city should henceforth, indeed ‘for ever’ become a county in its own right, independent of Kent. This state of affairs lasted until April 1974 when reorganisation brought about by the Local Government Act of 1972 abolished Canterbury's status as both city and county. History and standing were not to be denied however and in May 1974 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II confirmed by charter the rank of 'City' be accorded once again.

The earlier reorganisation that took place following the Local Government Act of 1888 did not affect Canterbury's County status as it remained separate from the newly created County Council of Kent. This may have been a somewhat unexpected turn of events as stone boundary markers that were placed to demarcate Canterbury's limit of influence all seem to be dated from around this time. Did the stones represent an act of civic pride, or defiance? Or was tradition (represented by the ancient custom of 'beating the bounds') seen as not to be relied upon without stout markers, the boundaries having been previously marked by wooden crosses?

In any case, some of these CCC marker stones still remain to be seen today. Personal observation and the work of others published on the internet has yielded ten so far, all of a similar style and, as far as can be made out, date. Many more are marked on the 1:2500 Godfrey Edition Canterbury 1906 Old Ordnance Survey Map but much fieldwork (or rambling about if I'm honest) is required to locate further survivors.

For now, here is one of them, located at the St. Stephen's railway crossing.

C.C.C. Boundary Marker 3g 1899

First Of All....

.... this concerns Canterbury in the county of Kent at the South Eastern tip of the United Kingdom, not Canterbury in New Zealand, nor Canterbury in Connecticut, nor the clothing manufacturer, nor the rock band, nor any of the other Canterburys that have pages devoted to them on the web. Canterbury, Kent, UK, where the world renowned cathedral and St. Augustine's Abbey are found, along with the University of Kent at Canterbury and the St. Lawrence Ground where Kent play their county cricket. That's the famous bits mentioned, the rest of what follows will not be about them (at least, that's the plan).
 
The history of Canterbury is well told and can be found elsewhere easily enough although an example of the cathedral's preponderance is given in a recent official publication, the city being...
 
Steeped in history dating back to 597AD with the founding of Canterbury Cathedral...
 
Yes, well, it's actually a bit older than that, and there are still some remains to be seen that predate that particular event. No matter. What I will be sharing in this blog are the observations I have made whilst wandering about the city over the last 20 years or so. The sort of things that don't make it into the official guide books but are still part of the fabric of the city and which contribute to the overall history of the place. I will also feature some items from my own collection of Canterbury related ephemera (or, if you prefer, junk) which I have gathered together over the years. I continue to collect relevant bits and pieces today as the present all too quickly becomes the past and what was considered mundane and everyday is all of a sudden lost. After all, in the words of David Oxley, 'We are history'.

So, 'Canterbury Ramblings' seems appropriate and to begin, the image at the top of this page is taken from a pre-1914 postcard published by W.E.B. & Co. of London (try searching for that on the internet) in their 'Favourite' Series, number 1261.