Nestled in the North Downs of Kent in the south east England, just 85 kilometres from the city of London, lies Canterbury home of the English Church. Canterbury is the only city in the county, and is surrounded by the beautiful rolling countryside of Kent, which is known as the ‘Garden of England’(due to the number of orchards and hop gardens).
Canterbury has been the cradle of Christianity in England since St Augustine came from Rome in 597 AD to baptize King Ethelbert of Kent and begin the conversation of all England to Christianity. Nothing survives of St Augustine’s cathedral. The present cathedral, which must be one of the best-known buildings in the world because of its status as the mother church of British Christianity, was begun in 1067 by the then Archbishop of Canterbury. A hundred years later, it was the scene of the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket, by four knights of King Henry II, and from that time it took on the mantle of the shrine of a martyr, attracting thousands of pilgrims. This was to end in 1538, with Henry VIII’s Dissolution of the Monasteries, when the shrine to ‘St Thomas’ was destroyed. The Cathedral still remains, despite damage caused during the 17th century Civil War and again in the Second World War, and the sheer size and splendour of it, dominates the city. Externally it is superbly impressive but, of all its riches, none is so priceless as its 13th century stained glass, which can be seen in the west window and south-west transept. In a building packed with memorials, the most famous tomb is that of Edward, the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward III. There was a settlement on this site though, 900 years before the coming of St Augustine, and in 43 AD the Romans, finding it a key crossing point for the River Stour, turned it into the fortress of Durovernum. About half of the city’s original Roman and medieval walls still survive today, and a ramp leads to the high-level walk along the parapet. Of the seven original gates to the city, the 14th century West Gate, a former prison and now a museum of arms and armour, is the only one to survive. Beneath one of the shops in the Longmarket precinct is a Roman tessellated pavement, dating from 100 AD, and in the Royal Museum, in High Street, is an excellent collection of Roman, Saxon and medieval artefacts. Another of the religious buildings founded by St Augustine, is St Augustine’s Abbey. Built in AD 602, it became one of the richest and most influential communities in Britain until Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. The gateway to the Abbey is impressive but, most of the buildings fell into ruin after the Dissolution, and what remains of them is now an annexe of the King’s School.
Other sites, in the city, worthy of mention:
Canterbury Pilgrim’s Way Heritage Centre, where you are invited back in time to relive Geoffrey Chaucer’s great tale ‘The Canterbury Tales’.
The Pilgrim’s Way, an ancient trackway dating from pre-Roman times, and said to be the route taken by pilgrims from Winchester to Canterbury. It is now part of the long distance ‘North Downs Way’ and wide views of the countryside can be seen from its heights.
Christchurch Gate, the main entrance to the Cathedral, was built in the 16th century and has fine oak gates which are closed each evening at 9 p.m.
St Martin’s Church, the oldest in England still in use.
Poor Priests’ Hospital, which has been, in turn, a hospice for the poor and needy, a poor house and a school and is now a museum of Canterbury life.
Greyfriars, a tiny building that is all that remains of a Franciscan Friary of the 13th century. It stands on stumpy piers and has its feet in the River Stour.
Other places of interest within 30 kilometres:
Dover, gateway to Europe, has a fine castle on top of a hill overlooking the town and the port.
Walmer and Deal, both one time Cinque Ports with castles built in haste by King Henry VIII against possible invasion by Catholic Europe. Walmer Castle is the official residence of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, a title held by the Duke of Wellington in the 19th century. Both castles are in the care of English Heritage and are open to the public. Walmer has a fine display of Wellington memorabilia.
Pegwell Bay, which has the replica of a Viking long boat which sailed from Denmark in 1949 to commemorate landings by Saxons on this shore fifteen hundred years earlier.
Richborough and Reculver, Roman sites of some importance. Richborough is the site of first land fall, where the bridgehead was established. Reculver was one of the ‘Saxon Shore’ forts.
Chilham, a picturesque village, with a huge square, surrounded by black and white timbered Tudor buildings.
Did you know that – a ‘Canterbury’ is a name for a piece of furniture? It is an 18th century invention to hold sheet music, designed to stand under the piano when not in use. The origin of the term has been attributed to a lazy archbishop who devised a mobile table to save moving unnecessarily!
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