having been converted two years after his accession, built another
church east of that of Saints Peter and Paul, and this was joined on
to the abbey church when the east end was extended about the time of
the Norman Conquest. At the same time as he began the monastery
subsequently called after him, Augustine appears to have made his
headquarters close to another early Christian church within the walls
of the Saxon city. This, according to Bede, was hallowed "in the name
of the Holy Saviour," and thus arose the name Christ Church--the name
the cathedral now bears. In these early times there were therefore
five Christian churches either restored or under construction, and
they were all roughly in a line running east and west. First there was
Christ Church and Augustine's residence--eventually the priory--within
the walls, then the embryo abbey of Saints Peter and Paul, with the
chapel of St. Mary a little to the east. Farther still was the church
of St. Pancras, and farthest from the city walls, on its little hill,
St. Martin's. There are other traces of Saxon work in the church of
St. Mildred near the castle, but this is much later than anything that
has been discovered on the other sites, and Dr. Cox points out what he
claims as pre-Conquest work in St. Dunstan's outside the city, on the
Whitstable Road.

Canterbury appears to have grown and prospered in spite of various
attacks made by the Danes until the year 1011, when the city, after a
defence lasting nearly three weeks, fell into the hands of the
invaders through treachery from within. Alphege, the good old
archbishop, was obliged to witness the savagery of the Danes when they
burst through the gates and began a horrible slaughter, which included
the monks of Christ Church, and it is said that about 7,000 Saxons
perished. Not content with all this butchery, they burnt the
cathedral. Archbishop Alphege was carried off by the victorious Danes,