Anglo-Saxon Attitudes

The much travelled bones of the great St Augustine will hopefully not be turning in their present grave in response to a series of commemorations and special occasions taking place throughout the year to mark the 1400th anniversary of his arrival on these shores. One of the keystones of these celebrations is the opening on May 25th, by Dr George Carey, St Augustine's latest successor as Archbishop of Canterbury, of the new £1 million museum built by English Heritage at the site of the abbey founded by Augustine in 598, the year after his arrival. Augustine had been chosen by Pope Gregory in Rome as the leader of a group of thirty missionaries who sailed to England to evangelise the Anglo-Saxons. The new museum will attempt to explain the long history of St Augustine's Abbey at Canterbury, from its foundation to its decline after the dissolution of the monasterie; in the sixteenth century, with the help of graphic reconstructs is and computer-generated models. There will also be an audio guide to help visitors decipher the abbey ruins.