Canterbury Cathedral
カンタベリー大聖堂
カンタベリー · GB
Where Becket fell — the mother church of Anglicanism and a 1,400-year UNESCO pilgrimage
Founded in 597 by Augustine in Canterbury, Kent, the cathedral became one of medieval Europe's greatest pilgrimage sites after Archbishop Thomas Becket's martyrdom in 1170. Listed by UNESCO in 1988, it is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and centre of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Best Season & Time
Kent gardens explode into blossom and apple flowers — the 'Garden of England' in full vigour
★★★★★
Long daylight and 18-22 degrees — peak season for choir tours and daily Choral Evensong with lights on
★★★★★
Stone walls play against turning leaves; visitor numbers thin and treasure-room tours run quieter
★★★★☆
Christmas carol services fill the nave and the quire glows under floodlights — uniquely atmospheric
★★★★☆
Top 3 Highlights
1.The Martyrdom Site and Its Modern Altar
The north-west transept — 'the Martyrdom' — is the spot where four knights of Henry II struck down Archbishop Becket on 29 December 1170. In 1986 a new altar was installed, the first in 448 years, with Giles Blomfield's sculpture of a cross and two blood-stained swords above.
Frame the wall sculpture and altar from a low angle to catch the sword shadows on the stone
2.The Perpendicular Nave by Henry Yevele
Rebuilt 1377-1405 under master mason Henry Yevele, the nave is the supreme expression of English Perpendicular Gothic — slender columns rising without break from floor to lierne vault, an unusually tall arcade against the clerestory, bosses overhead: a Gothic chapter.
Stand at the west door and face east along the central aisle in early-morning oblique light
3.The Bell Harry Tower and the Cathedral Silhouette
Completed 1493-1505, the 72-metre central crossing tower called Bell Harry is among the most graceful achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic — tracery panels rise to a delicate parapet, and with the 160-metre Caen-limestone nave it forms one of Europe's finest silhouettes.
Frame the tower through the gilded Christ Church Gate from the west in late-afternoon light
Stories & Legends
Recommended For
Insider Tips
- 1.Choral Evensong at 5:30 pm on weekdays is free and lets you sit in the quire close to the choir of boy and adult voices — a unique window on the cathedral as a working place of prayer after the main visitor crowds have left for the day.
- 2.The eight 12th-century Becket Miracle Windows in the Trinity Chapel are among the oldest stained glass in England; a major 2018 conservation recovered their colour, and the best light comes from the north aisle in the early afternoon when the sun is oblique.
- 3.The Norman crypt below the quire — once Becket's burial place and now also home to Huguenot French-language worship since 1576 — is the oldest layer of the cathedral, an 11th-century space included in general admission yet often skipped by visitors in a hurry.
Visit Information
- Access
- From London St Pancras International, the high-speed Southeastern service reaches Canterbury West in about 55 minutes, and the cathedral is a 12-minute walk through the old town. Heathrow Airport is roughly 2 hours 30 minutes door-to-door via rail.
- Time Required
- About two hours for the cathedral itself, or three hours including crypt and cloister.
- Budget Guide
- Adult admission around GBP 17; Evensong is free; guided tours about GBP 7 extra. (Prices as of 2024 — check the official website.)
Nearby Attractions
Ten minutes on foot, St Augustine's Abbey shares the World Heritage inscription as the cradle of English Christianity from 597. Five minutes east stands St Martin's Church, founded in the 4th century and counted as the oldest church in the English-speaking world still in use. The old town offers medieval High Street and the Canterbury Tales attraction.
Go Deeper
Deeper details for those with the time to read on.
Timeline
- 597
Augustine Founds Cathedral
Sent from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great, Augustine receives permission from King Aethelberht of Kent and founds the cathedral at Canterbury.
- 1011-1012
Aelfheah Martyred
Archbishop Aelfheah is taken hostage during a Danish raid and killed at Greenwich the following year, the first of Canterbury's five martyred archbishops.
- 1070-1077
Norman Rebuilding
Lanfranc, the first Norman archbishop, rebuilds the cathedral from the ground up in Romanesque style after the 1067 fire.
- 1170
Becket's Martyrdom
On 29 December, four knights of Henry II murder Archbishop Thomas Becket in the north-west transept, transforming the cathedral into a great pilgrimage site.
- 1174-1184
Early Gothic Quire
After the fire of September 1174, William of Sens and William the Englishman rebuild the quire in the new French Gothic style and finish the Trinity Chapel.
- 1220
Becket's Translation
Becket's bones are translated from the crypt into the gilded shrine in the Trinity Chapel, opening the height of medieval pilgrimage to Canterbury.
- 1377-1405
Perpendicular Nave
Master mason Henry Yevele rebuilds the nave and transepts on Norman foundations in the Perpendicular Gothic style, defining English late Gothic at its finest.
- 1493-1505
Bell Harry Tower
The 72-metre central crossing tower known as Bell Harry is completed, capping the cathedral with one of the most graceful Perpendicular Gothic towers in England.
- 1538-1539
Shrine Destroyed
Henry VIII's Reformation destroys Becket's shrine and confiscates its treasures; the priory is dissolved and the cathedral re-founded as a secular college.
- 1834
Arundel Tower Built
The structurally unsound Norman north-west tower is replaced by a Perpendicular Arundel Tower twinning the south-west tower, completing the present west front.
- 1942
Wartime Survival
Baedeker air raids destroy the cathedral library, but local fire wardens save the main building from the incendiaries that fell on the wooden roof.
- 1988
World Heritage Listing
Canterbury Cathedral is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List together with St Augustine's Abbey and St Martin's Church under criteria (i), (ii) and (vi).
- 2016-2022
Canterbury Journey
The GBP 34.5 million Canterbury Journey programme renews the roofs, conserves the Becket Miracle Windows, and rebuilds the visitor infrastructure.
Detailed History
Canterbury Cathedral's history opens in 597, when Augustine, sent from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great to convert the Anglo-Saxons, founded a cathedral at Canterbury with permission from King Aethelberht of Kent. The Anglo-Saxon building was enlarged through the 9th and 10th centuries; during Danish raids of 1011 Archbishop Aelfheah was taken hostage and killed at Greenwich in 1012, the first of Canterbury's five martyred archbishops. The cathedral burned in 1067 and was rebuilt 1070-1077 under the first Norman archbishop, Lanfranc, in Romanesque style. Anselm and Ernulf greatly enlarged the east end in the early 12th century. The decisive event came on 29 December 1170, when four knights of Henry II murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket in the north-west transept after the king's quarrel with his former chancellor. Becket was canonised in 1173, and the cathedral became one of medieval Europe's greatest pilgrimage destinations. A devastating fire in September 1174 destroyed the quire; the French master mason William of Sens rebuilt it in Gothic style with pointed arches, rib vaulting and flying buttresses, using limestone from Caen and Purbeck marble for the shafts. After his 1179 scaffolding fall, 'William the Englishman' completed the work. Between 1180 and 1184 the present Trinity Chapel and circular Corona were added east of the quire to house Becket's shrine; his bones were translated there in 1220. The 1382 Dover Straits earthquake destroyed the campanile. From the late 14th century the nave and transepts were rebuilt in Perpendicular Gothic under Henry Yevele, roughly 1377-1405. The 72-metre Bell Harry Tower was finished 1493-1505. In 1538 Henry VIII's Reformation destroyed Becket's shrine and carted off its treasures; the priory was dissolved in 1539 and re-founded as a college of secular canons in 1541. Puritan iconoclasm in 1642-1643 caused further damage. The Norman north-west tower was replaced in 1834 by a Perpendicular twin to the south-west tower, completing the present symmetrical west front. The Baedeker raids of 1942 destroyed the library, but local fire wardens saved the main building. In 1988 the cathedral, with St Augustine's Abbey and St Martin's Church, was inscribed on the UNESCO list. The 2016-2022 Canterbury Journey invested GBP 34.5 million in roof, glass and visitor infrastructure.
Cultural Significance
Canterbury Cathedral has been the spiritual heart of English Christianity for more than 1,400 years, ever since Augustine's mission in 597. The Archbishop of Canterbury serves not only the diocese but also the Church of England as its senior bishop, and acts as the focus of unity for the worldwide Anglican Communion of some 85 million believers. The 1988 UNESCO inscription cited criteria (i), (ii) and (vi): the cathedral represents 'a masterpiece of human creative genius' across a sequence of styles from Norman to Perpendicular Gothic; it documents an important interchange of architectural ideas as early French Gothic was imported, adapted, and surpassed by an English idiom; and it is tangibly associated with two events of outstanding universal significance — the Augustinian mission that brought Christianity to the English and the martyrdom of Thomas Becket. Geoffrey Chaucer began the Canterbury Tales around 1387 as the supreme monument of Middle English literature, framed around pilgrims travelling to Becket's shrine, and the cathedral has remained a literary destination ever since. T. S. Eliot's 1935 verse drama Murder in the Cathedral and Jean Anouilh's 1959 play Becket both reanimated the killing for the modern stage, and Pope John Paul II's 1982 visit anchors the cathedral in present national life as much as in its medieval past.
Architectural Details
Canterbury Cathedral is a living textbook of English ecclesiastical architecture. The 11th-century Norman crypt and parts of the outer walls survive from Lanfranc's rebuilding (1070-1077) and from Anselm and Ernulf's eastern enlargement of the early 12th century. The Gothic quire, raised 1175-1184 by William of Sens and William the Englishman, marks the moment when the new French style — pointed arches, rib vaulting, flying buttresses — entered England, using limestone from Caen and Purbeck marble. The Trinity Chapel and Corona at the east end stand on a raised crypt for Becket's shrine. The Perpendicular Gothic nave and transepts, rebuilt 1377-1405 under Henry Yevele, are perhaps the supreme expression of the English style: slender piers rise unbroken from floor to lierne vault, the arcade is exceptionally tall against the clerestory, and decorative bosses enrich the vault. The 72-metre Bell Harry Tower (1493-1505), with delicate tracery rising to a parapet, ranks among the most graceful Perpendicular towers in England. The west front carries its present symmetry only since 1834, when the Arundel Tower replaced the Norman north-west tower. Overall dimensions are 160 metres long and 47 metres broad. The stained glass — especially the eight 12th-century Becket Miracle Windows and the Ancestors of Christ series — counts among the oldest medieval glass surviving in England.
