Canterbury

I have just spent a couple of days in Canterbury. As well as having the most important cathedral in England it can boast of an amazingly  long history.  As a result of German bombing in 1942 many archaeologists were able to search through the rubble. They found a lot of evidence of a large and sophisticated Roman town. It had rich villas, temples, baths, a theatre and fine examples of Roman mosaic pavements. But the town declined considerably after the legions left in about 415 AD.
From 1185 it became the main place of Christian pilgrimage in Great Britain as a result of the martyrdom of St. Thomas a Becket.  Hundreds of thousands visited the town, bringing fame and prosperity.  Chaucer set his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, in the Tabard Inn, among a group of pilgrims waiting to start their journey from London to Canterbury.  Chaucer made a very bold and important move to use the new language of English and not the usual Norman French of educated classes.  
The pilgrimages lasted till 1538, when Henry the Eighth closed all the nearby monasteries and gave orders that the shrine of a Becket should be destroyed and his bones scattered.  His zeal was motived less by protestant piety than by greed to plunder the rich monastic lands.





A typical late medieval part of the nave

As you can see, the choire was built during the Norman period, with its emphasis on the rounded arches.

There aren't many stained-glass windows in the Cathedral.  During the time of Cromwell the Puritans smashed most of them and even used the nave as stabling for their horses.  This is a fine example of modern stained glass.

In the sixteenth century thousands of  devout Huguenots fled from the religious persecution of all things protestant in France and many settled down in Canterbury.  The town benefited immensely.  The were skilled cloth workers and skilled in other trades.  The town prospered and at one time a third of the population spoke French.  Even to this day there is a regular service in the Cathedral in French every Sunday.  The picture above shows a white riverside building called the Weavers.  It is now a restaurant but its site commemorates the central place of weaving in the past.

This spring scene was taken near the famous West Tower of the town.  An extensive and attractive garden lies along the river Stour at this spot.