Eight blue plaques to be unveiled at Unesco site

The plaques are on the Longport wall of St Augustine's Abbey

Blue plaques have been placed at an abbey in Kent to commemorate eight people associated with the long history of the site.

The plaques will be unveiled at 17:00 BST on Thursday on the Longport wall of St Augustine's Abbey in Canterbury.

The abbey is part of the Canterbury Unesco world heritage site.

Brian McHenry, from the Canterbury Commemoration Society, said: "The project is intended to add interest to the exterior of the wall of the abbey, to remind/tell passersby about the long and interesting history of the abbey for over 1,400 years."

The plaques were arranged by the Canterbury Commemoration Society, The Canterbury Society and the Nubian Jak Community Trust.

Who are the plaques for?

• St Augustine: The first Archbishop of Canterbury.

• St Hadrian: A monk and scholar believed to be from Tunisia who was Abbot of St Peter's and St Paul's Abbey - later known as St Augustine's Abbey.

• Abbot Thomas Fyndon: He undertook works at the abbey, notably the gate to the site.

• William Thorne: A monk who wrote a famous history of the abbey.

• John Tradescant the Elder: A famous gardener who laid out ornamental gardens at the abbey when it was the private home of Lord and Lady Wootton.

• Sir Alexander Beresford Hope: A politician who bought the site of the abbey, established a missionary college on it and began the archaeological investigations which have continued to this day.

• Nathaniel Cyril Kondile Mhala: A South African student at St Augustine's College who was later a founding member of the South African Native Congress, a forerunner of the African National Congress.

• Rev Robert Ullock Potts: A sub-warden of St Augustine's College, who led successful archaeological works on the site for more than 25 years.