Description
St Augustine's Cross is close to the site of an important meeting between St Augustine and King Æthelberht of Kent said to have taken place nearly 1,500 years ago near an oak tree. It was where the two met soon after St Augustine had landed in Thanet, sent by Pope Gregory the Great in Italy to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity to re-establish the faith in the country. The cross was commissioned in 1884 by Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, at the time Minister for Foreign Affairs and Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. It was inspired by the tree known as the Augustine Oak under which the two had met.
Opening Hours
Any reasonable time during daylight hours.
Prices
Free.
Accessibility
Access to the cross is level but across the grass.
Parking
Park in the layby adjacent to the cross.
Dogs
On leads.
Picture Credit: © English Heritage.
