User:Vejlefjord/St-Aug-Abbey - draft

Fyndon’s Gate
The abbey gatehouse was rebuilt from 1301 to 1309 by Abbot Fyndon. It has since been known as the Fyndon Gate or the Great Gate. The chamber above the entrance was the state bed-chamber of the Monastery. In 1625, Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria slept in this chamber, following their marriage in Canterbury Cathedral. In 1660, after the Restoration, Charles II and his brothers, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, stayed in the gatehouse on their way to London.

Fyndon's gate suffered such damage by German bombs during the Second World War that it had to be rebuilt. The gate faces a small square known since the reign of Charles I as Lady Wootton's Green.” Statues of Æthelberht of Kent and Queen Bertha stand on the green.

From 1952 to 1967, the Missionary College buildings were used as The Central College of the Anglican Communion.

Since 1976, the college buildings (plus some new ones) have been used by the King's School, Canterbury, for boarding houses and the School Library. This part of the St Augustine's Abbey site was purchased by the School in 1994.

The ruins of the abbey are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the care of English Heritage.