Canterbury Cathedral

Little dog has just spent a few days at Grandma's house which she really enjoys, discussing little old lady things and being spoilt rotten. The reason for her short holiday was because Mrs C and I have been to Canterbury for the weekend with some friends. Apart from the usual, catching up on events and an excess of eating and drinking we all payed a visit to the Cathedral on Saturday.

The last time that we visited Canterbury Cathedral was approximately two years ago for our son's Graduation Ceremony from the University of Kent. We were extremely proud parents on that occasion but for obvious reasons we did not get a chance to look around the building. So last Saturday we made the most of our visit, exploring and asking lots of questions of the volunteer guides who were very approachable and extremely knowledgeable about the Cathedral and it's history.

Canterbury is the premier Cathedral for the Church of England and is famous (or infamous) for being the site of the murder of it's most famous Archbishop, Thomas Becket. Thomas was brutally slain on 29th December 1170 by four knights who thought that they were doing the bidding of King Henry II; by  'Ridding him of this Meddlesome Priest'.

Thomas was appointed Archbishop by Henry, but they fell out after Becket strived to increase the power of the church and make it independent of the monarchy. Following his death many miracles were attributed to Becket  who was later Canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1173. A shrine was built to Thomas and the Cathedral became one of the great pilgrimage destinations of Europe, made famous in Chaucer's Canterbury tales. (One day I think that I may walk the Pilgrims way from Winchester to Canterbury).

Several centuries later during King Henry VIII's dissolution of the Monasteries, Becket's shrine was wrecked and his remains were destroyed. However one theory suggests that the monks swapped the  remains and secreted Thomas's bones away, later burying them somewhere within the crypt. The site of where Becket's shrine once stood in Trinity Chapel is now marked by a single candle.

Whilst walking around the building I noticed lots of graffiti scratched into the pillars and walls going back over many centuries, vandalism obviously isn't just a modern day problem.

We had a fantastic weekend away with our friends and the visit to Canterbury Cathedral was definitely one of the highlights. So if you're ever in this part of Kent, I thoroughly recommend a visit to the City and it's Cathedral.