Overcrowding, Slums and Ill-health in early C.19th Canterbury. An illustrated talk by Clive Bowley - 11th March 2026.

The Northgate area experienced unprecedented population growth, especially in the late C.18th and early C.19th when many of the open spaces left from monastic times were built over.

However, the area was also the recipient of much of the city’s drainage which finally discharged into the river at St Radigund’s.

By the early C 19th dense slum courtyards had arisen, offering cramped and insanitary living conditions that were reported on in graphic terms by the first Medical Officer of Health, George Rigden in 1847.

At the end of the C 19th increasing concern over Public Health led to a programme of slum clearance that continued right through into the 1960s, with the former residents decanted out into modern council housing estates on the edge of the city.

Clive Bowley will talk about the development of the area and its drainage arrangements before looking in more detail at the many slum dwellings both made from converted ancient buildings and dense, purpose-built courtyards that characterised the area right into the twentieth century.

Wednesday 11th March 2026 - 7.00 pm

St Pauls Church. Church Street St Paul, Canterbury CT1 1NH CHAS members Free – non-members are very welcome to attend for a one off fee of £3.00 Chas.membership@gmail.com https://www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk/