St. Augustine's Abbey
A shrine associated with St. Augustine of Canterbury.
St. Augustine of Canterbury → Plan a trip hereThe Story
St. Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury, England, was founded in 598 by St. Augustine of Canterbury, the Roman monk sent by Pope St. Gregory the Great to bring the Gospel to the Anglo-Saxons. Together with Canterbury Cathedral and St. Martin's Church, its remains form a UNESCO World Heritage Site marking the rebirth of Christianity in southern England. Augustine and his companions landed in Kent in 597 and were received by King Ethelbert, whose Christian queen, Bertha, already worshipped at St. Martin's. The mission bore rapid fruit: the king was baptized, Canterbury became the seat of a new church, and Augustine founded the abbey just outside the city walls as a burial place for the archbishops of Canterbury and the kings of Kent. Augustine himself was buried there after his death in 604, as were the first archbishops who followed him. For nearly a thousand years the abbey flourished as one of England's great centers of monastic life and learning. It was dissolved in 1538 under King Henry VIII; the church was demolished, and the shrine and burial places of St. Augustine and his successors were destroyed, their relics dispersed or lost. Today the abbey survives as an extensive ruin in the care of English Heritage, with a museum recounting Augustine's mission. Though no shrine remains, Catholic and other Christian visitors still come to walk the ground where the apostle of the English was laid to rest, and where the faith of England was planted.
Church Recognition
St. Augustine of Canterbury, the apostle of the English, is venerated as a saint by the universal Church with his feast on the General Roman Calendar; the abbey itself was dissolved in 1538 and is today a ruin in the care of English Heritage rather than an active Catholic shrine.
Catholic Teaching
The abbey recalls the Church's missionary mandate, carried out when Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to evangelize the English (CCC 849-856), and the monastic tradition through which the faith, learning, and worship of the Church took root in England (CCC 925-927).
Plan Your Visit
Practical
Additional Information
Visitors can explore the abbey ruins, the museum on St. Augustine's mission, and the marked sites of the early archbishops' burials, and many combine the visit with nearby Canterbury Cathedral and St. Martin's Church, the oldest church in continuous use in the English-speaking world.
Go Deeper
Visitor information is available from English Heritage at https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/st-augustines-abbey/; readers may also explore St. Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, the primary account of Augustine's mission, and the Catechism on the Church's missionary nature (CCC 849-856).
Location
Visit the official website ↗ See it on the interactive map →Pilgrim Photos
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In the Area
Other sacred sites within 40 miles.