Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral stands in the heart of Canterbury, Kent, on ground that has held Christian worship since the late 6th century. It occupies part of a World Heritage Site together with the nearby Abbey of St Augustine and the ancient Church of St Martin. The present building is mainly the result of Norman rebuilding after 1070, with later Gothic enlargements for pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket. Its formal title is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ, Canterbury, and it serves as the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The cathedral’s long history is marked by key figures and events that shaped English Christianity. Augustine founded the first church here in 597, and the martyrdom of Thomas Becket in 1170 turned it into one of Europe’s most important pilgrimage centres. Rebuilding after the 1174 fire introduced Gothic vaulting recorded in detail by the monk Gervase, while Lanfranc and Anselm directed the early Norman reconstruction. The Chair of St Augustine, used for archiepiscopal enthronements, may date from this period. Inside, the cathedral combines Norman and Gothic architecture. The nave and transepts from the 11th century lead to a quire rebuilt after the 1174 fire, its ambulatory and chapels raised above a richly decorated crypt. William of Malmesbury praised the quire’s marble pavements, stained glass and painted ceiling. The Martyrdom transept marks the spot where Becket was killed, and the crypt remains largely intact from the original Norman structure.