In crypt of Canterbury cathedral

First recorded in situ in late eighteenth century (Hastead 1778-99; Duncombe 1784); purchased when church demolished in 1805 by a Mr Francis and deposited in his orchard near Canterbury, where rediscovered (minus one capital) in 1859 by J. B. Sheppard, who also relocated missing capital in 'Mr Deene's stackyard' at Reculver; all later acquired by Dean and Chapter of Canterbury and located first in Deanery garden, then moved inside cathedral in 1932.

St Mary

Broken and worn

The bases are sculptured in one piece with the lower drum of the column and are separated from them by a triple cable moulding. Immediately below these is a bold projection, in section, tapering slightly towards the flat outer faces. Along the upper and lower edges of the faces are cable mouldings which flank a fret composed of a series of interlocking incised Ts. Below this projection the bases are deeply recessed, and terminate in a second bold projection of fundamentally square section, with the upper edges rounded. The bases are heavily damaged and have been partially cut away to one side to form the seatings for a vertical element. The capitals each consist of four undecorated, superimposed fasciae.

The drawings of the columns in situ, before Reculver church was demolished, demonstrate their function, which was to support the triple arcade between the nave and chancel (Ills. 124–5, 127). The use of triple arcades in this position occurs elsewhere among the early Kentish churches at St Pancras's, Canterbury, where columns were also used (Ills. 59–60), and Rochester, although there the evidence is tenuous. Outside Kent a similar arrangement may be inferred from the surviving fabric at Bradwell-juxta-mare, Essex. Both at Rochester and Bradwell there is so little surviving evidence that it is unclear whether either piers or columns were used. Apart from the columns under discussion and the column base from Canterbury (St Pancras) no. 1, the only free-standing columns from the pre-Conquest period in south-east England are those that may be inferred from the surviving capitals at Canterbury (St Augustine's Abbey) nos. 5 –7; Ills. 29–40.

Blagg has pointed out that the best parallels for both the capitals and bases at Reculver lie in east Mediterranean material of the fifth and sixth century (Blagg 1981, 52–3). This implies that the pieces must belong to a post-Roman context and are not directly reused Roman material. Within the corpus of Anglo-Saxon sculpture, the only parallels for the form of the capitals are provided by an undated capital from Betchworth, Surrey (Ill. 2), a capital from Ripon, possibly from St Wilfrid's church (Taylor and Taylor 1965–78, ii, 517), and two bases or capitals from St Mary, Castlegate, York, reused in an eleventh-century context (Wenham et al. 1987, 153–5, fig. 47; Lang 1991, 117, ills. 413–15).

Seventh century

Hastead 1778 - 99, iii, 637, note m; Duncombe 1784, 85, 88; Smith 1848 - 80, VI, 222 - 7, fig. on 227, pl. X, VII, 163; Smith 1850, 198, figs. on 197 and 198; Talbot 1860, 135 - 6, fig. facing 136; Sheppard 1861, 369 - 73; Scott 1862 - 3, 9 - 10; Puckle 1864, 34 - 5, fig. facing 8; Dowker 1878, 352; Fox 1896, 355; Micklethwaite 1896, 298 - 9; Brown 1900a, 307, figs. 7c and e; Brown 1900b, 336; Cabrol and Leclercq 1907 - 53, II.1, col. 1184, fig. 1636; Brown 1925, 256 - 9, figs. 156C, E; Peers 1927b, 244 - 7, 250 - 6, fig. 5; Clapham 1929, 266; Peers 1929, 72; Clapham 1930, 24, 62, 122, fig. 38, pl. 3; Livett 1932, 4, cols. 3 - 4; Cox and Johnston 1935, 108, 251; Jessup 1936, 184, n. 8; Mee 1936, 364; Gilbert 1954, 96 - 7, 97, n.; Fisher 1962, 364; Taylor and Taylor 1965 - 78, ii, 504, 506, 508 - 9, fig. 248; Taylor and Taylor 1966, 41, 51; Taylor 1968, 291 - 2, n. 6; Taylor 1969; Cherry 1976, fig. 4.12d; Fernie 1983b, 36; Tweddle 1983b, 30 - 1, fig. 6c; Tweddle 1986b, ii, 433 - 5, iii, pl. 1, 74; Wenham et al. 1987, 153 - 4