Sections of a 14th century wall once part of St Augustine’s Abbey have been unearthed beneath the Canterbury Christ Church University campus.

A team from the Canterbury Archaeological Trust is excavating a portion of the North Holmes Road site ahead of the university’s construction of a £12 million arts centre.

The ground is understood to contain medieval, Anglo-Saxon and Bronze Age remains which will be preserved under glass in the buildings’s main reception.

St Augustine’s Abbey is part of the Canterbury World Heritage Site and was a Benedictine monastery founded in 598, the year after Augustine’s arrival in Kent from Rome on his mission to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity.

Dr Andy Seaman, a senior lecturer in post-Roman medieval archaeology, said: “As a medieval archaeologist, I am very excited about what the excavation tells us about the history of the abbey and the lives of its inhabitants.

“The excavation has also been fantastic for our students because it gives them an opportunity to witness an excavation from beginning to end, enabling them to see how the techniques they learn in lectures are put into practice in the field.

"This will help them to prepare for when they go on their own excavation placements this summer.”

Two former Christ Church archaeology students, James Revell and Nick Lawrence, now work for the Canterbury Archaeological Trust and have returned to the university to take part in the project.

James said: “I feel proud to be using my degree for what I aimed to become, especially with the Canterbury Archaeological Trust.

“I find it both brilliant and convenient that I have returned to my university to work.

“I am very pleased to have worked with my friend Nick and my tutor Andy on the site. Nick and I are learning a lot with the trust, it is nice to hear our tutors are proud of us for pursuing and achieving our goals.”

Christ Church’s new arts building is scheduled to be ready by September next year and will be shared by the schools of media, art and design, and music and performing arts. It will house specialist teaching facilities and be equipped with the latest technology.