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Whitehall Meadows

Local Nature Reserves in Kent
Path along the River Stour geograph.org.uk 778661
Path along the River Stour geograph.org.uk 778661

Whitehall Meadows is a 11.6-hectare (29-acre) Local Nature Reserve in Canterbury in Kent. It is owned and managed by Canterbury City Council.This wet meadow has typical damp loving wildlife including snails, butterflies, damselflies, dragonflies and reptiles.This site is divided into two halves, with the River Great Stour running between them. A cycle path runs through the northern part.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Whitehall Meadows (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Whitehall Meadows
Whitehall Road, Canterbury Wincheap

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Wikipedia: Whitehall MeadowsContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.276 ° E 1.065 °
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Address

Whitehall Road

Whitehall Road
CT2 8NL Canterbury, Wincheap
England, United Kingdom
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Path along the River Stour geograph.org.uk 778661
Path along the River Stour geograph.org.uk 778661
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Canterbury city walls
Canterbury city walls

Canterbury city walls are a sequence of defensive walls built around the city of Canterbury in Kent, England. The first city walls were built by the Romans, probably between 270 and 280 AD. These walls were constructed from stone on top of an earth bank, and protected by a ditch and wall towers. At least five gates were placed into the walls, linked to the network of Roman roads across the region. With the collapse of Roman Britain, Canterbury went into decline but the walls remained, and may have influenced the decision of Augustine to settle in the city at the end of the 6th century. The Anglo-Saxons retained the defensive walls, building chapels over most of the gates and using them to defend Canterbury against Viking incursions.The Norman invaders of the 11th century took the city without resistance, and by the 12th century the walls were ill-maintained and of little military value. Fears of a French invasion during the Hundred Years' War led to an enquiry into Canterbury's defences in 1363. The decision was taken to restore the city walls and for around the next thirty years the old Roman defences were freshly rebuilt in stone, incorporating the older walls where they still remained. 24 towers were constructed around the circuit, and over the coming years many of the gatehouses were rebuilt in stone and brick, defended by some of the first batteries of guns in England. Parts of the wall were deliberately damaged by Parliament during the English Civil War of the 17th century and the doors to the city's gates burnt; with the restoration of Charles II in 1660, new doors were reinstalled. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Canterbury's city walls came under extensive pressure from urban development. All the gates but one, West Gate, were destroyed and extensive parts of the walled circuit were knocked down to make way for new roads and buildings. German bombing during the Second World War caused further damage. Despite this, the remaining walls and gatehouse survived post-war redevelopment intact and some portions were rebuilt entirely. Over half the original circuit survives, enclosing an area of 130 acres (53 ha), and archaeologists Oliver Creighton and Robert Higham consider the city wall to be "one of the most magnificent in Britain".