St Mary Bredman Square
A tranquil oasis in the heart of Canterbury city centre.
St Mary Bredman Square preserves the memory of a lost medieval church, where centuries of parish life have given way to a quiet public space of remembrance.
In January 2023, Canterbury City Council was awarded £19.9m by UK Government for the bid, Connected Canterbury: Unlocking the Tales of England. The project transformed Canterbury’s public spaces and heritage to reflect its status as an international visitor destination and World Heritage Site.Â
The History of St Mary Bredman Square
The former Nason's Courtyard occupies the site of the former Church of St Mary Bredman Church. The church was of Norman origin, having been built before 1160 in association with Christ Church Priory. Originally known as St Mary Fishman because of the nearby fish market, it later became known as St Mary Bredman, reflecting the bread market that developed behind the church. Unlike many parish churches, it had no dedicated churchyard, with burials taking place either in vaults beneath the church or within the churchyard of St Mary de Castro Church.
Sixteenth-century maps depict the church as a detached building with a square tower terminating the view along Mercery Lane. It stood among several other medieval parish churches, including St Andrew's and All Saints, both of which have since disappeared. An eighteenth-century watercolour by Francis Grose provides one of the best surviving images of the medieval church, showing a building that had evolved over time, with a mixture of architectural styles and window designs reflecting successive phases of alteration.
By the early nineteenth century the church had fallen into serious disrepair. In 1816 it was closed by order of the Archbishop because of its "ruinous and dilapidated state", and parish services temporarily transferred elsewhere. Following appeals from the churchwardens, the building was completely rebuilt between 1817 and 1822 in a Gothic style, with a symmetrical façade, large Perpendicular windows and a prominent central entrance.
The rebuilt church proved short-lived. Owing to redundancy and structural instability, it was largely demolished in 1900. Rather than rebuilding again, permission was granted to set the building line back from the High Street and create an ornamental public garden enclosed by a new flint boundary wall, while remaining under parish ownership. Historic memorials were relocated to neighbouring churches, and the former church site was planted with trees.
In 1922 the Royal East Kent Mounted Rifles War Memorial and its accompanying horse trough were unveiled within the garden to commemorate members of the regiment who died during the Boer War and the First World War. The horse trough is a rare memorial dedicated specifically to the regiment's horses. Both monuments were repositioned within the courtyard during landscaping works in 1960.
Subsequent twentieth-century redevelopment further altered the space, reducing planting, relocating historic gravestones within the paving and moving the horse trough to its current position. Although the adjoining Nason's department store has since closed, the courtyard survives as a small public space preserving the memory of the lost medieval church.
Stay Up To Date
Sign up to our newsletter to get regular updates on things to do and upcoming events in Canterbury, Herne Bay and Whitstable straight to your inbox
