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Canterbury PhotographsKent Online Parish Clerks |
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Augustine created a cathedral in Canterbury. It burned down in 1067, but the Normans soon built a new one on the same site. About a hundred years later, King Henry the Second appointed his friend Thomas à Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury. There were bitter disagreements between the two, however. While the King was at a feast in France he shouted out angrily, "Who will rid me of this troublesome priest?". Four of the king's knights heard this and travelled to Canterbury, where they murdered Becket inside the cathedral. The King was sad when he heard about the murder as he had not wanted his former friend to be killed. Soon afterwards the Pope made Becket a saint, and many people started to go to Canterbury as pilgrims to see Becket's tomb. The arrival of many visitors helped Canterbury to become a wealthy town. However, King Henry the Eighth stopped pilgrimages after he created the Church of England, and Thomas à Becket's tomb was destroyed. A candle is now lit at the place where the tomb used to be. The cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and is the main visitor attraction in the town. Entrance to the cathedral is through the ChristChurch Gate on Sun Street. This masonry gate leads into the Cathedral precincts. It was built in 1517 (inscribed in Latin above the gateway). The Church was a wealthy institution and could afford to pay for it to be built with stone imported from Caen in France. Both the gate and the Cathedral itself were built using Caen stone. The Caen quarries were near to the French coast and it was relatively easy to ship the stone over to the south-eastern coast of England. Cargoes may well have been unloaded at the port at Fordwich and then taken by cart to Canterbury. The bronze figure of Christ in the centre is a recent addition, a bronze figure installed in 1991 replacing a figure of Christ destroyed in 1642 by Parliamentarians who used the figure for target practice. These days, this is where you pay to enter the Cathedral precincts. Further details can be viewed on the Kent Resources website. |
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 Christ Church Gate |
 Close-up detail of Christ Church Gate |
 Plan of the Cathedral |
| http://www.kent-opc.org Send mail to the Administrator, Kent OPC or Contact Us with questions or comments about this web site. © 2006 Kent Online Parish Clerks, all rights reserved. No part of this page or web site may be reproduced either in part or in its' or their entirety in any manner whatsoever without prior written permission of Kent Online Parish Clerks or its' assigns or successors, as the case may be, and the author hereof. This page was written & produced by Susan D. Young. Date last modified: 2/25/2007 3:25:04 PM |