Editing Canterbury Cathedral (section)

=== Early Medieval ===
[[Bede]] recorded that Augustine reused a former Roman church. The oldest remains found during excavations beneath the present nave in 1993 were, however, parts of the foundations of an Anglo-Saxon building, which had been constructed across a Roman road.<ref name =archae>{{cite web|title=AD 1000 — Canterbury Cathedral|date=24 May 2007|publisher=Current Archaeology|url=http://www.archaeology.co.uk/the-timeline-of-britain/canterbury-cathedral.htm|access-date=16 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917081128/http://archaeology.co.uk/the-timeline-of-britain/canterbury-cathedral.htm|archive-date=17 September 2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=trust /> They indicate that the original church consisted of a nave, possibly with a [[narthex]], and side-chapels to the north and south. A smaller subsidiary building was found to the south-west of these foundations.<ref name=trust /> During the 9th or 10th century this church was replaced by a larger structure ({{cvt|49|by|23|m|disp=comma|order=flip}}) with a squared west end. It appears to have had a square central tower.<ref name=trust /> The 11th-century chronicler [[Eadmer]], who had known the Saxon cathedral as a boy, wrote that, in its arrangement, it resembled St Peter's in Rome, indicating that it was of [[basilica]]n form, with an eastern apse.{{sfn|Willis|1845|pp=20–21}}

During the reforms of [[Dunstan]], archbishop from 960 until his death in 988,<ref>{{cite web|title=St Dunstan (Biographical details)|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=29454|publisher=British Museum|access-date=13 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414075109/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?bioId=29454|archive-date=14 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> a Benedictine abbey named Christ Church Priory was added to the cathedral. But the formal establishment as a monastery seems to date only to {{circa|997}} and the community only became fully monastic from [[Lanfranc]]'s time onwards (with monastic constitutions addressed by him to Prior Henry). Dunstan was buried on the south side of the high altar.

Anglo-Saxon King [[Æthelred the Unready]] and Norman-born [[Emma of Normandy]] were married at Canterbury Cathedral in the Spring of 1002, and Emma was consecrated "Queen [[Ælfgifu]]".<ref>Encomium Emmae Reginae
by Alistair Campbell, p. xl, https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.185337/page/n38/mode/1up?q=Imme</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://intriguing-history.com/emma-of-normandy/|title=Emma of Normandy, who was she?|date=3 August 2015|access-date=12 February 2022|archive-date=12 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212191644/https://intriguing-history.com/emma-of-normandy/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The cathedral was badly damaged during Danish raids on Canterbury in 1011. The archbishop, [[Ælfheah of Canterbury|Ælfheah]], was taken hostage by the raiders and eventually killed at Greenwich on 19 April 1012, the first of Canterbury's five martyred archbishops.{{efn|Ælfheah is venerated as St Alphege.{{sfn|Farmer|1992|pp=17–18}}}} After this a western apse was added as an oratory of [[Saint Mary]], probably during the archbishopric of [[Lyfing (Archbishop of Canterbury)|Lyfing]] (1013–1020) or [[Æthelnoth (archbishop of Canterbury)|Aethelnoth]] (1020–1038).

The 1993 excavations revealed that the new western apse was polygonal, and flanked by hexagonal towers, forming a [[westwork]]. It housed the archbishop's throne, with the altar of St Mary just to the east. At about the same time that the westwork was built, the arcade walls were strengthened and towers added to the eastern corners of the church.<ref name=trust>{{cite web|title=Canterbury Cathedral|author1=Blockley, Kevin|author2=Bennett, Paul|publisher=Canterbury Archaeological Trust|url=http://www.hillside.co.uk/arch/cathedral/nave.html|access-date=12 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412192117/http://www.hillside.co.uk/arch/cathedral/nave.html|archive-date=12 April 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>