New research identifies England’s oldest surviving church

Its construction marked ‘the official relaunch of Christianity in what would become England’ says archaeology professor

Ruins of the Anglo-Saxon St Pancras Church in St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury (Shutterstock/PhotoFires)

England’s oldest surviving church has been identified by archaeologists.

New evidence reveals that the Chapel of St Pancras in Canterbury was built, consecrated and used by St Augustine, head of the papal mission to Kent in 597.

Dating from around 600 AD and now in ruins, it was almost certainly the first purpose-built place of Christian worship constructed in Anglo-Saxon England.