Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘His legacy is forever printed on the city’
A distinguished historian and former teacher who served the Canterbury community for more than 60 years has been remembered with a service at Canterbury Cathedral. Born in Maidstone in 1923, Lawrence Lyle was educated at Maidstone Grammar School and Merton College, Oxford. He was called up to the armed forces as a student in 1942, where he served in the RAF as a navigator with the Lancaster bombers, later receiving the Bomber Command Medal for his services. In 1949, he married Marjorie, and so began a “strong and loving partnership - a marriage of two minds”, with the couple celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary last summer. Mr Lyle had a lifelong interest in history and archaeology. He began his teaching career in London, moving to Canterbury in 1955 to take up the post of head of history at the Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, which he held until his retirement.
Mr Lyle was a founding member of Canterbury Archaeological Trust, and the longest-serving member of Kent
Archaeological Society. As well as bringing up a family of five, he held prominent roles on a number of trusts and committees, while he and his wife produced eight popular books. In 2013, he was honoured by the Queen when he was made an MBE for his services to archaeology and local history.
Mr Lyle died on December 12, aged 96.
At his funeral this month, his children remembered him as “a good, kind, gentle man”, with a “genuine care for others that flowed, quietly and unfailingly from his huge, generous heart”.
“Our mother describes him as the ‘cornerstone of our lives; the measure of whether we were doing the right thing; a benchmark’,” said his daughter, Catherine Drewett. “Dad’s life has been one of constant self-improvement; his quest to expand his mind and try to understand the world he inhabited has had a profound effect on us all.” Director of Canterbury Archaeological Trust Paul Bennett paid tribute to Mr Lyle’s “long and distinguished life”. He said: “Lawrence Lyle excelled in many roles; in education, local history, archaeology, local politics, in the community of Canterbury and the congregation of this Cathedral. As an example to others, he has no equal, save for his wonderful wife Marjorie. “His legacy is indelibly printed in bold letters in the history of the city he served with such sustained distinction.”