Visited: May 28, 2018
The nice thing about living in London (I'm sure many large European cities have this same advantage) is that it's quite close by rail to many interesting England towns and cities. Often you can book a train ticket the evening before or morning of for quite low cost and be on your way for a nice day trip. On this late May bank holiday weekend that day trip was Canterbury.
A little background
Canterbury is a lovely cathedral city situated in Kent, England on the River Stour. Aside from just being a lovely place to visit due to its charm and beautiful streets and cathedral, it has an interesting history. It is probably most famous for its cathedral and Archbishop who to this day is still responsible for Royal Coronations and Royal Family weddings.
The most famous of all the Archbishops is Saint Thomas Beckett who was murdered in the cathedral itself by Knights supposedly sent by Henry II due to disagreements in policy. H2 was so appalled by this after, likely with the fear of going to hell for killing a martyr, that he tried to make amends to Canterbury and the church in general for the rest of his life.
Enough of history for now. Some other sights of note in Canterbury worth a visit:
- Westgate Tower
- Westgate Park
- Canterbury Castle Ruins
- St Augustine’s Abbey Ruins
- And of course its the site of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
Here is my same day recounting of the visit.
This morning I rushed to London Bridge to get a train to Canterbury. Like many trains leaving London they may leave from one of many train stations, sometimes stopping at another station in London on its way out of town. You have to pick and arrive wisely. They also stop at many spots on the way and if your destination isn’t the last stop don’t expect to see it on the departures board or train which I learned today! Also sometimes trains split their cars in two and go in different directions. Rider beware!
I arrived around 1030 (yes my train split in two and yes I was on the right half of it - by chance). After numerous predictions of thunderstorms and rain it turned out to be a beautiful and sunny day in Canterbury. Quite an interesting city, a little bit of a blast from the past.
First off many seem to speak an odd type of English here. In the pub at least it was very working class and full of expressions some of which I didn’t understand. I suspect many were brextiers.
The streets are often cobblestone or flagstone and look very old. Some streets and lanes do feel very old English. Apparently this is a Norman town which is a reference to the architectural style of many old buildings/structures. To get into the city you enter though Westgate.
First stop was the Canterbury Cathedral which is on par in many ways with Westminster Abbey. And although it hasn’t as many monarchs and famous people buried there it is almost as majestic and holds the burial places of St Thomas Beckett, Richard II and Henry IV (the war of the roses’ first usurper). Before 1500 it seems it was of equal importance to Westminster and its Archbishop will still coronate the incoming Monarch which in the past would have been a sign that the influential Archbishop and monarch are somewhat chummy.
St Thomas Beckett is quite well known and loved in these parts. He died in 1170 when Henry II’s knights rode from London to confront him on his lack of loyalty. Rather than getting sacked and there being a special council appointed for an investigation, the knights chopped off his skull and he became a martyr causing problems for kings on and off until Henry VIII took over the church and tore down his special resting place in the Cathedral hundreds of years later.
Speaking of Henry VIII... Not far from the cathedral are the ruins of St Augustine’s Abbey. In 596 the then title free Augustine was sent to England by Pope Gregory I to convert the then largely pagan populations to Christianity. Augustine setup the Abbey, convinced the King of Kent to convert and the rest as they say is history. Until Henry VIII shut down the Abbey due to their love of St Thomas and.... the Pope.
Canterbury Castle!
Canterbury Castle was one of the three original Royal castles of Kent (the other two being Rochester Castle and Dover Castle). They were all built soon after the Battle of Hastings, on the main Roman road from Dover to London. This was the route taken by William the Conqueror in October 1066, and they were built originally as motte-and-bailey castles to guard this important route
The castle was somewhat underwhelming so I walked around the exterior, took a photo and copied in a Wikipedia summary above. In fact I even found out at the end it was closed due to falling masonry (the original builders warranty has expired).
Also of note in Canterbury of course are the tales written about people in the city. Chaucer wrote the famous Canterbury Tales about different characters of his time in the late 14th century. While he is not really associated with many places in the city there is an attraction in the name of his book. The Canterbury Tales Attraction is a combination of a walking tour and someone in character recounting the tales. Apparently the book is better so I didn’t go in.
On the way back out I stopped in Westgate park and walked around for a bit in what is a nice green space around the River Stour (Yes they have punting!)
And then it was off to the train - another great day trip from London!
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