Destined to Serve: Use of the Outer Grounds of St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, Before, During and After the Time of the Monks: Canterbury Christ Church University Excavations 1983-2007

The volume describes the archaeological discoveries made within the outer precincts of St Augustine's Abbey, in ground now part of the campus of Canterbury Christ Church University. Development work at the university between 1983 and 2007 involved numerous archaeological interventions, the results of which are presented. Remains were uncovered spanning prehistoric to modern times. Of particular note was evidence for Bronze Age settlement, a Roman cremation cemetery and water conduit, a mid Anglo-Saxon craft working site associated with the monastery of SS Peter and Paul (founded c AD 598). Subsequent development associated with the outer court of the abbey saw the construction of major service buildings including a brew house-bakehouse and a cellarer's range. Cultural assemblages, together with environmental material retrieved from sampled remains, are analysed and a documentary study follows the development of the abbey and its ground beyond the post-Dissolution creation of a royal palace on the site.