Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: H Sbort HccoutU ot tbe Ibistorp of St. Huoustine's flDonasterp. HE history of the Abbey of St. Augustine dates from the earliest years of the reintroduction of Christianity into this part of Britain by the Missionaries of St. Gregory. The Christians of the earlier times had been driven westward to the fastnesses of- Wales and Cornwall by successive waves of foreign invasions, and a clear field was thus left open in East Anglia for the labours of the new comers. It was some time between the autumn of 596 and the early spring of the year 597 that Augustine and his companions (increased by the addition of the interpreters,whom they had taken up in France, to the number of forty persons) first set foot on English ground. At what point of the long range of lowlands they disembarked is not positively known, but Ebbsfleet is believed to have been their landing place. That is, some high land at the head of Pegwell Bay, the traditional landing place of the Jutes. Other places are mentioned, viz. : — Cliffsend, Richborough and Stonar, the two last being on the mainland. Bede states that they landed on the Isle of Thanet : he received his information from the Abbot and Monks of St. Augustine's, and from ancient writings. Visitors who may be attracted to this interesting locality, wilt find the aspect of the country greatly changed since the time of St. Augustine's landing. They will now see green fields and large tracts of low marshy land where the Wantsum ebbed and flowed past the castle and harbour of Richborough to the castle of Reculver on the other side of the Island. Sandwich, then an important seaport, is now some miles inland ; for the sea has receded some distance from this side of the island, while it has gained on the other side of Reculver. Visitors will find the s...