Aphra Behn back in the city!

26 February 2025

We were thrilled to be at the unveiling of a brand new statue of Canterbury’s 17th century icon, Aphra Behn, by Queen Camilla. ...

Aphra Behn, born in 1640, was the first woman to make a professional living from writing and became the most successful playwright and novelist of her age….and if that wasn’t enough, she was also a spy for King Charles II.

Her plays were performed in London for decades after her death, and she was honoured with a burial within Westminster Abbey.

But during the Victorian period, her writing was shunned for its salacious content, and she was sadly much forgotten.

But in the early 20th century her writings were rediscovered. Virgina Woolfe wrote, “All women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn, for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds."

The bronze statue, commissioned by the Canterbury Commemoration Society, and sculpted by Christine Charlesworth, stands outside the Beaney in the High Street.

To find out more about this industrious young woman, come and join one of our walking tours!