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Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral - tourist informationNo visit to Canterbury is complete without a visit to the Cathedral, it is a marvellous spectacle with fabulous stained glass windows, decoratively carved columns and capitals depicting medieval characters. It now forms part of a World Heritage Site. Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral in the north-east transept in 1170 by knights of King Henry II. This event triggered an influx of pilgrims, and stories of these pilgrims were told in Geoffrey Chaucer's famous Canterbury Tales. Pilgrims have continued to visit the Cathedral ever since and its popularity remains today.

Architectural History

St Augustine established the Cathedral in 597AD and dedicated it to Christ the Saviour in 602AD on the site of what was probably an old Roman church. Its construction has changed over the centuries firstly by Oda in 941-958 who lengthening the nave also a Benedictine Abbey called Christ Church Priory was added in between 909-988AD by Archbishop St. Dunstan. Later it was damaged during Danish raids in 1011 and a western apse was added as an oratory of St. Mary.

Canterbury Cathedral visitor guideAfter the Norman Conquest in 1066, Lanfranc rebuilt the cathedral in a Norman design and dedicated it in 1077. It was again enlarged by Archbishop St. Anselm (1093-1109) to make more space for the monks with decorated crypt, the largest of its kind in England beneath it, also the nave was rebuilt in Gothic style by Prior Thomas Chillenden (1390-1410). The central tower was reconstructed later in 1510, with a height of 297 feet. This new tower is known as the 'Bell Harry Tower', after Prior Henry which tolls 100 strokes, from about 8:55 p.m., to sound the city's curfew. The last major rebuilding was to the Norman northwest tower which was replaced in the 1830s with a matching twin of the southwest tower, currently known as the 'Arundel Tower'. In recent history the monastic dormitory was destroyed by a bomb in the Second World War which was aimed at the Cathedral but missed.

Highlights of Your Visit

Canterbury Cathedral - attractionFeatures to note are the pointed arches and pinnacles of Gothic nave and the Gothic southwest porch with grinning faces and tiny symbols carved along the top. The nave terminates at a great Gothic choir screen at the top of a wide stairway. East of the choir is the large Trinity Chapel, reached by worn stone stairs on either side where a candle burns at the site of the shrine of St Thomas. Here you will find marvellous stained glass windows, inlaid marble roundels depicting the signs of the zodiac, months of the year, virtues and vices.

At the far east of the cathedral is the Corona Chapel which once housed the relic of St. Thomas' head. Here there are two more medieval windows of interest, the Tree of Jesse and the Redemption Window. From the Tree of Jesse only two original panels of King Josiah and the Virgin Mary survive. Two more surviving windows can be found in the north choir aisle, dated about 1180. Beneath the Cathedral is a massive crypt with Romanesque murals, carved columns and capitals.

Plan your visit to Canterbury Cathedral