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88-603: In April 1985 the British and French governments invited proposals for the construction of a link between the two countries to be privately funded. In January 1986 the two governments selected the Channel Tunnel Group/France Manche proposal for the construction of two undersea tunnels. At Canterbury Cathedral on 12 February 1986 the governments signed a treaty approving construction of the Channel Tunnel. In March

176-408: A great hall were added. In the early 14th century, land was acquired for a cellarer's range (living and working quarters for the cellarer who was responsible for provisioning the abbey's cellarium ), a brewhouse, a bakehouse, and a new walled vineyard . A Lady chapel was built to the east of the church. The abbey gatehouse was rebuilt from 1301 to 1309 by Abbot Fyndon. It has since been known as

264-497: A scriptorium for producing manuscripts. Dunstan , Archbishop of Canterbury from 959 to 988, influenced a reorganisation of the abbey to conform to Benedictine rule. Buildings were enlarged and the church rebuilt. Dunstan also revised the dedication of the abbey, from the original Saints Peter and Paul, by adding Saint Augustine in 978. Since then, the abbey has been known as St Augustine's. The invading Danes not only spared St Augustine's, but in 1027 King Cnut made over all

352-510: A ball at the Archbishop’s palace, returning at midnight to St Augustine's. Lord Cobham was a resident of Kent who had served her faithfully as a diplomat and parliamentarian. On the attainder of Lord Cobham for treason in 1603 under the reign of James I , the residence was granted to Robert Cecil, Lord Essenden . After Cecil died in 1612, James I and VI leased the palace to Edward, Lord Wootton of Marley (sometimes spelled "Wotton"), for

440-532: A base for final year ordination preparation. Since 1976, the college buildings, together with some new ones, have been used by the King's School, Canterbury , for boarding houses and the school library. This part of the St Augustine's Abbey site was purchased by the school in 1994. In 1940 the ruins of the abbey were taken into the care of the British government and are now managed by English Heritage . The Abbey

528-413: A confrater shortly before his death), Nigel de Longchamps and Ernulf. The monks often put forward candidates for Archbishop of Canterbury, either from among their number or outside, since the archbishop was nominally their abbot, but this could lead to clashes with the king or pope should they put forward a different man – examples are the elections of Baldwin of Forde and Thomas Cobham . Early in

616-486: A cross flanked by two bloodstained swords which, together with the shadows they cast, represent the four knights who killed Becket. A stone plaque also commemorates Pope John Paul II's visit to the United Kingdom in 1982. Antony Gormley 's sculpture Transport was unveiled in the crypt in 2011. It is made from iron nails from the roof of the south-east transept. In 2015, Sarah Mullally and Rachel Treweek became

704-433: A former Roman church. The oldest remains found during excavations beneath the present nave in 1993 were, however, parts of the foundations of an Anglo-Saxon building, which had been constructed across a Roman road. They indicate that the original church consisted of a nave, possibly with a narthex , and side-chapels to the north and south. A smaller subsidiary building was found to the south-west of these foundations. During

792-557: A graduation venue for the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University . St Augustine%27s Abbey St Augustine's Abbey (founded as the Monastery of SS. Peter and Paul and changed after Augustine's death) was a Benedictine monastery in Canterbury , Kent , England. The abbey was founded in 598 and functioned as a monastery until its dissolution in 1538 during

880-451: A monk of the priory) and William Chillenden, (elected 1264, previously monk and treasurer of the priory). The monastery was granted the right to elect their own prior if the seat was vacant by the pope, and – from Gregory IX onwards – the right to a free election (though with the archbishop overseeing their choice). Monks of the priory have included Æthelric I , Æthelric II , Walter d'Eynsham , Reginald fitz Jocelin (admitted as

968-415: A new quire screen at the east end of the nave, into which Eastry's existing screen was incorporated. The Norman stone floor of the nave, however, survived until its replacement in 1786. From 1396 the cloisters were repaired and remodelled by Yevele's pupil Stephen Lote who added the lierne vaulting. It was during this period that the wagon-vaulting of the chapter house was created. A shortage of money and

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1056-429: A stream of water running through it from end to end. A second smaller dormitory for the conventual officers ran from east to west. Close to the refectory, but outside the cloisters, were the domestic offices connected with it: to the north, the kitchen, 47 feet (14 m) square, with a pyramidal roof, and the kitchen court; to the west, the butteries, pantries, etc. The infirmary had a small kitchen of its own. Opposite

1144-443: A time of "worldly magnificence", marked by "lavish expenditures" on new buildings, royal visits, and banquets with thousands of guests. In addition, the papacy imposed many levies on the abbey. The large debt that was incurred by these expenditures might have swamped the abbey had it not been for generous benefactors who came to the rescue. The cloister , frater ( refectory ) and kitchen were totally rebuilt. A new abbot's lodging and

1232-401: A western apse was added as an oratory of Saint Mary , probably during the archbishopric of Lyfing (1013–1020) or Aethelnoth (1020–1038). The 1993 excavations revealed that the new western apse was polygonal, and flanked by hexagonal towers, forming a westwork . It housed the archbishop's throne, with the altar of St Mary just to the east. At about the same time that the westwork was built,

1320-503: A yearly rent of £20 13s and 4d. Wootton employed John Tradescant the Elder to lay out formal gardens. In 1618, King James granted a power for seven years to search for "treasure-trove, plate, jewels, copes, vestments, books, and the like, hid, or supposed to be hid, in abbeys, priories, monasteries, churches, chapels, and other places within the realm." As a result the Abbey was searched and some of

1408-602: Is one of the oldest Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site . Its formal title is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ, Canterbury . Founded in 597, the cathedral was completely rebuilt between 1070 and 1077. The east end was greatly enlarged at the beginning of the 12th century, and largely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in 1174, with significant eastward extensions to accommodate

1496-559: Is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site with Canterbury Cathedral and St Martin's Church. The following list is drawn from Edward Hasted, "The Abbey of St Augustine: Abbots" , in The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent , Volume 12 (Canterbury, 1801), pp. 177–225. The start of an abbot's tenure is the earliest date known, be it election, confirmation or consecration, except where indicated. The end date of an abbot's tenure

1584-495: The Anglo-Saxons . The King of Kent at this time was Æthelberht or Ethelbert. Although he worshipped in a pagan temple just outside the walls of Canterbury to the east of the city, Ethelbert was married to a Christian, Bertha . According to tradition, the king not only gave his temple and its precincts to St Augustine for a church and monastery, he also ordered that the church to be erected be of "becoming splendour, dedicated to

1672-679: The Dissolution of the Monasteries as "days of decadence". Although the abbey owned estates throughout Kent amounting to 19,862 acres, Boggis holds that "historical evidence proves conclusively that even if Henry VIII had never dissolved them, the English monasteries were already doomed." The "extortionate exactions" of the Papacy would lead to bankruptcy. However, the English Reformation accompanied by

1760-535: The English Reformation . After the abbey's dissolution, it underwent dismantlement until 1848. Since 1848, part of the site has been used for educational purposes (used as boarding houses and a library by The King's School, Canterbury ) and the abbey ruins have been preserved for their historical value. In 597, Augustine arrived in England , having been sent by the missionary-minded Pope Gregory I to convert

1848-677: The Gregorian Mission to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity . According to the writings of the later monk Bede , these Augustinian missionaries gained permission from the Kentish king to restore several pre-existing churches. Augustine then founded Canterbury cathedral in 597 and dedicated it to Jesus Christ, the Holy Saviour . When other dioceses were founded in England Augustine

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1936-495: The Second World War that it had to be rebuilt. The gate faces a small square known since the reign of Charles I as Lady Wootton's Green, after the widow of Edward, Lord Wootton of Marley who lived in the palace until her death in 1658. Statues of Æthelberht of Kent and Queen Bertha stand on the green. In the 1360s, Juliana Leybourne funded the building of the "Countess's Chapel" or more usually "St Anne's Chapel" that

2024-401: The cloister and monastic buildings were to the north, rather than the south of the church. There was a separate chapter-house which still exists, said to be "the largest of its kind in all of England". Stained glass here depicts the history of Canterbury. The buildings formed separate groups around the church. Adjoining it, on the north side, stood the cloister and the buildings devoted to

2112-420: The priors . Following the election of Prior Ernulf in 1096, Lanfranc's inadequate east end was demolished, and replaced with an eastern arm 198 feet long, doubling the length of the cathedral. It was raised above a large and elaborately decorated crypt . Ernulf was succeeded in 1107 by Conrad, who completed the work by 1126. The new quire took the form of a complete church in itself, with its own transepts;

2200-489: The "Angel Steeple", after a gilded angel that once stood on one of its pinnacles. The cathedral ceased to be an abbey during the dissolution of the monasteries when all religious houses were suppressed. Canterbury Cathedral, and the great monastery of Christ Church were surrendered to the Crown on 30 March 1539, after the occupants had made "an inventory of the good, chattels, plate, precious ornaments, lead, and money belonging to

2288-430: The "great transfer", Parliament gave King Henry VIII authority to dissolve the monasteries and confiscate the property for the Crown. The rationale given was "that the religious houses had ceased to apply their property to the specific religious uses for which it was originally given." On 30 July 1538, the King's Commissioners arrived to take the surrender of St Augustine's Abbey. The last abbot and monks complied and left

2376-525: The 14th century, Prior Eastry erected a stone quire screen and rebuilt the chapter house, and his successor, Prior Oxenden inserted a large five-light window into St Anselm's chapel. The cathedral was seriously damaged by the 1382 Dover Straits earthquake , losing its bells and campanile. From the late 14th century the nave and transepts were rebuilt, on the Norman foundations in the Perpendicular style under

2464-498: The 9th or 10th century this church was replaced by a larger structure (161 by 75 ft, 49 by 23 m) with a squared west end. It appears to have had a square central tower. The 11th-century chronicler Eadmer , who had known the Saxon cathedral as a boy, wrote that, in its arrangement, it resembled St Peter's in Rome, indicating that it was of basilican form, with an eastern apse. During

2552-536: The Anglo-Saxon buildings were completely reconstructed in the form of a typical Norman Benedictine monastery. By 1100, all the original buildings had disappeared under a Romanesque edifice. There was further rebuilding as a result of the great fire in 1168. The fire's destruction accounts for the paucity of historical records for the preceding period. From about 1250 onwards was a period of wealth in which "building succeeded building". Boggis's history calls this period

2640-526: The Church of England defended the decision stating that Monteith lives chastely with his partner. In 2024, the cathedral began offering blessings for same-sex couples "already in civil partnerships or civil marriages" or in "covenanted friendship" during ordinary or regular church services in accordance with "Prayers of Love and Faith." The cathedral is Regimental Church of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment and

2728-632: The Dissolution of the Monasteries happened before bankruptcy. The Reformation replaced the Pope (a cleric) with a monarch (a layman). Actions by the Parliament's House of Commons strengthened the power of the laity versus the power of the clergy. These actions were part of the English Reformation’s "great transfer" of power, both economic and religious, from ecclesiastical to secular authorities. As part of

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2816-721: The Fyndon Gate or the Great Gate. The chamber above the entrance was the state bed-chamber of the monastery. In 1625, Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria slept in this chamber, following their marriage in Canterbury Cathedral . In 1660, after the Restoration , Charles II and his brothers, the Dukes of York and Gloucester, stayed in the gatehouse on their way to London. Fyndon's gate suffered such damage by German bombs during

2904-612: The abbey remains. St Augustine's Missionary College remained in existence until 1947. However, on the night of 31 May 1942, its buildings were so badly damaged by a German Blitz raid that the College ceased operations. From 1952 to 1967, the Missionary College buildings were used as The Central College of the Anglican Communion . From 1969 to 1976 the college was used by the theological department of King's College London as

2992-420: The abbey. The abbey, with its site, its goods, buildings, lands and all other possessions, became the property of the Crown. This dissolution ended over 940 years of monastic presence. During the rest of Henry's reign, St Augustine's Abbey was held by the Crown with some of its buildings converted into a royal residence. However, in other parts of the abbey dismantling and sale of material began in 1541. Some of

3080-401: The adornments of the chest over the years, while others were placed on pedestals or beams nearby, or attached to hanging drapery. For much of the time, the chest (or " feretory ") was kept concealed by a wooden cover, which would be theatrically raised by ropes once a crowd of pilgrims had gathered. The Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus , who visited in 1512–1514, recorded that, once the cover

3168-688: The arcade walls were strengthened and towers added to the eastern corners of the church. The cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1067, a year after the Norman Conquest. Rebuilding began in 1070 under the first Norman archbishop, Lanfranc (1070–1077). He cleared the ruins and reconstructed the cathedral to a design based closely on that of the Abbey of Saint-Étienne in Caen , where he had previously been abbot, using stone brought from France. The new church, its central axis about 5 m south of that of its predecessor,

3256-454: The blessed apostles Peter and Paul, and endowed it with a variety of gifts." One purpose of the foundation was to provide a residence for Augustine and his brother monks. As another, both King Ethelbert and Augustine foresaw the abbey as a burial place for abbots, archbishops, and kings of Kent. William Thorne , the 14th-century chronicler of the abbey, records 598 as the year of the foundation. The monastic buildings were most likely wooden in

3344-460: The bombing raids of the Second World War its library was destroyed, but the cathedral did not sustain extensive bomb damage; the local Fire Wardens doused any flames on the wooden roof. In 1986, a new Martyrdom Altar was installed in the northwest transept, on the spot where Thomas Becket was slain, the first new altar in the cathedral for 448 years. Mounted on the wall above it, there is a metal sculpture by Truro sculptor Giles Blomfield depicting

3432-472: The buildings and carried used stones to build a new house at Hales Place . From then on until 1844, the desolation continued until it had engulfed the church, cloister, kitchen, and refectory. Other parts of the site suffered degradation. From 1770 to 1844, the Alfred Beer & Company brewery operated within the abbey precincts. In 1804, a portion of the site was divided into lots and sold. The Great Court

3520-456: The cathedral and its associated buildings. This revenue included the profits from the sale of pilgrim badges depicting Becket, his martyrdom, or his shrine. The shrine was removed in 1538. King Henry VIII allegedly summoned the dead saint to court to face charges of treason. Having failed to appear, he was found guilty in his absence and the treasures of his shrine were confiscated, carried away in two coffers and 26 carts. A bird's-eye view of

3608-464: The cathedral and its monastic buildings, made in about 1165 and known as the "waterworks plan" is preserved in the Eadwine Psalter in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge . A detailed description of the plan can be found in the classic paper by Willis . It shows that Canterbury employed the same general principles of arrangement common to all Benedictine monasteries , although, unusually,

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3696-424: The cathedral into a place of pilgrimage, necessitating both expansion of the building and an increase in wealth, via revenues from pilgrims, in order to make expansion possible. In September 1174 the quire was severely damaged by fire, necessitating a major reconstruction, the progress of which was recorded in detail by a monk named Gervase . The crypt survived the fire intact, and it was found possible to retain

3784-428: The church, beyond the precinct of the monastery, was the eleemosynary department. The almonry for the relief of the poor, with a great hall annexed, formed the paupers' hospitium. The group of buildings devoted to monastic life included two cloisters. The great cloister was surrounded by the buildings essentially connected with the daily life of the monks: the church to the south, with the refectory placed as always on

3872-563: The completion of the Channel Tunnel TML ceased to exist. The participants were as follows: Channel Tunnel Group (later Translink Contractors) France Manche (later Transmanche Construction) Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury , the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion . Located in Canterbury , Kent, it

3960-620: The concession for the operation of the tunnel was given to Channel Tunnel Group (CTG) and France Manche (FM). Following the award of this concession CTG was subsumed by the newly formed Eurotunnel plc and FM was similarly replaced with Eurotunnel SA, together these formed the Eurotunnel Group. In July 1985 the British contractors formed Translink Contractors and the French consortium formed Transmanche Construction. On 18 October 1985 these two groups were merged to create TransManche Link (TML). TML

4048-403: The direction of the noted master mason Henry Yevele . In contrast to the contemporary rebuilding of the nave at Winchester , where much of the existing fabric was retained and remodeled, the piers were entirely removed, and replaced with less bulky Gothic ones, and the old aisle walls were completely taken down except for a low "plinth" left on the south side. More Norman fabric was retained in

4136-426: The east end was semicircular in plan, with three chapels opening off an ambulatory . A free-standing campanile was built on a mound in the cathedral precinct in about 1160. As with many Gothic church buildings, the interior of the quire was richly embellished. William of Malmesbury wrote: "Nothing like it could be seen in England either for the light of its glass windows, the gleaming of its marble pavements, or

4224-576: The end of the 1860s. There are currently 53 statues representing various figures who have been influential in the life of the cathedral and the English church such as clergy, members of the royal family, saints, and theologians. Archbishops of Canterbury from Augustine of Canterbury and Lanfranc , to Thomas Cranmer and William Laud are represented. Kings and Queens from Æthelberht and Bertha of Kent , to Victoria and Elizabeth II are included. The original towers of Christ Church Gate were removed in 1803 and were replaced in 1937. The statue of Christ

4312-533: The first women to be ordained as bishops in the cathedral, as Bishop of Crediton and Bishop of Gloucester respectively. In 2022, it was announced that David Monteith , who is gay and in a civil partnership , would serve as dean of the cathedral. His appointment was criticised by the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches (GSFA) and the Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (GAFCON);

4400-404: The flow of pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket , the archbishop who was murdered in the cathedral in 1170. The Norman nave and transepts survived until the late 14th century, when they were demolished to make way for the present structures. Before the English Reformation , the cathedral was part of a Benedictine monastic community known as Christ Church, Canterbury , as well as being

4488-423: The founder's death. For two centuries after its founding, St Augustine's was the only important religious house in the kingdom of Kent. The historian G. F. Maclear characterized St Augustine's as being a "missionary school" where "classical knowledge and English learning flourished". Over time, St Augustine's Abbey acquired an extensive library that included both religious and secular holdings. In addition, it had

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4576-552: The high altar. Anglo-Saxon King Æthelred the Unready and Norman-born Emma of Normandy were married at Canterbury Cathedral in the Spring of 1002, and Emma was consecrated "Queen Ælfgifu ". The cathedral was badly damaged during Danish raids on Canterbury in 1011. The archbishop, Ælfheah , was taken hostage by the raiders and eventually killed at Greenwich on 19 April 1012, the first of Canterbury's five martyred archbishops. After this

4664-408: The land around it was dug. Wootton died in 1626, but Lady Wootton lived on in the palace until her death in 1658. The open space before the gateway is still known as Lady Wootton's Green. Sir Edward Hales (1626–1684) took possession of the property after Lady Wootton’s death, to be followed by his son Sir Edward Hales (1645–1695). Rather than conserving the property, these new owners dismantled

4752-433: The manner of Saxon construction, so they could be quickly built. However, building a church of solid masonry, like the churches Augustine had known in Rome, took longer. The church was completed and consecrated in 613. Ca. 624 a short distance to the east, Eadbald , son and successor of Ethelbert, founded a second church, dedicated to Saint Mary which also buried Kentish royalty. The abbey became known as St Augustine's after

4840-507: The many-coloured paintings which led the eyes to the paneled ceiling above." Though named after the 6th-century founding archbishop, the Chair of St Augustine , the ceremonial enthronement chair of the Archbishop of Canterbury, may date from the Norman period. Its first recorded use is in 1205. A pivotal moment in the history of the cathedral was the murder of the archbishop, Thomas Becket , in

4928-404: The monastic life. To the east and west of these were those devoted to the exercise of hospitality. Also to the east was the infirmary, with its own chapel. To the north, a large open court divided the monastic buildings from menial ones, such as the stables, granaries, barn, bakehouse, brewhouse, and laundries, inhabited by the lay servants of the establishment. At the greatest possible distance from

5016-523: The monks" and "all that could be moved" was "handed over to the master of the jewel-house" of the Tower of London, after which "the Prior and monks were then ejected. The Cathedral reverted to its previous status of 'a college of secular canons'. According to the cathedral's own website, it had been a Benedictine monastery since the 900s. The New Foundation came into being on 8 April 1541. The shrine to St Thomas Becket

5104-431: The nave and chancel of an aisled church. Beneath the dormitory, overlooking the green court or herbarium, lay the "pisalis" or "calefactory", the common room of the monks. At its northeast corner access was given from the dormitory to the necessarium , a building in the form of a Norman hall, 145 feet (44 m) long by 25 feet (7.6 m) broad, containing 55 seats. It was constructed with careful regard to hygiene, with

5192-551: The north-west transept (also known as the Martyrdom) on Tuesday 29 December 1170, by knights of King Henry II . The king had frequent conflicts with the strong-willed Becket and is said to have exclaimed in frustration, " Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest? " Four knights took it literally and murdered Becket in his own cathedral. After the Anglo-Saxon Ælfheah in 1012, Becket was the second Archbishop of Canterbury to be murdered. The posthumous veneration of Becket transformed

5280-458: The outer walls of the quire, which were increased in height by 12 feet (3.7 m) in the course of the rebuilding, but with the round-headed form of their windows left unchanged. Everything else was replaced in the new Gothic style, with pointed arches, rib vaulting, and flying buttresses. The limestone used was imported from Caen in Normandy, and Purbeck marble was used for the shafting. The quire

5368-556: The possessions of Minster-in-Thanet to St Augustine's. These possessions included the preserved body of Saint Mildred . Belief in the miraculous power of this relic had spread throughout Europe, and it brought many pilgrims to St Augustine's, whose gifts enriched the abbey. Following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, William the Conqueror confiscated landed estates, but he respected Church property. At St Augustine's Abbey,

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5456-427: The present Trinity Chapel was constructed, a broad extension with an ambulatory, designed to house the shrine of St Thomas Becket. A further chapel, circular in plan, was added beyond that, which housed further relics of Becket, widely believed to have included the top of his skull, struck off in the course of his assassination. This latter chapel became known as the "Corona" or "Becket's Crown". These new parts east of

5544-478: The priority given to the rebuilding of the cloisters and chapterhouse meant that the rebuilding of the west towers was neglected. The south-west tower was not replaced until 1458, and the Norman north-west tower survived until 1834 when it was replaced by a replica of its Perpendicular companion. In about 1430 the south transept apse was removed to make way for a chapel, founded by Lady Margaret Holland and dedicated to St Michael and All Angels. The north transept apse

5632-470: The quire transepts were raised on a higher crypt than Ernulf's quire, necessitating flights of steps between the two levels. Work on the chapel was completed in 1184, but Becket's remains were not moved from his tomb in the crypt until 1220. Further significant interments in the Trinity Chapel included those of Edward Plantagenet (The " Black Prince ") and King Henry IV . The shrine in the Trinity Chapel

5720-414: The quire. Some of Davis's misericords have a distinctly medieval flavour and he may have copied some of the original designs. When Sir George Gilbert Scott carried out renovations in the 19th century, he replaced the front row of Davis' misericords, with new ones of his own design, which seem to include many copies of those at Gloucester Cathedral , Worcester Cathedral and New College, Oxford . Most of

5808-407: The refectory door in the cloister were two buildings where the monks washed before and after eating. One of these is the circular two-storey lavatorium tower. To the south of the infirmary cloister, close to the east end of the cathedral, is the treasury, with a distinctive octapartite vault. The buildings devoted to hospitality were divided into three groups. The prior's group were "entered at

5896-409: The reforms of Dunstan , archbishop from 960 until his death in 988, a Benedictine abbey named Christ Church Priory was added to the cathedral. But the formal establishment as a monastery seems to date only to c.  997 and the community only became fully monastic from Lanfranc 's time onwards (with monastic constitutions addressed by him to Prior Henry). Dunstan was buried on the south side of

5984-468: The ruins, found them deplorable, and bought them. Inspired by the missionary zeal of the Reverend Edward Coleridge, Hope and other donors gave additional money to restore and construct buildings for the establishment of a college to train young men as missionaries in the British colonies. They envisioned a dual purpose for the college: (a) to educate missionaries and (b) to excavate and preserve

6072-504: The seat of the archbishop. Christianity in Britain is referred to by Tertullian as early as 208 AD and Origen mentions it in 238 AD. In 314 three Bishops from Britain attended the Council of Arles . Following the end of Roman life in Britain, during the first three decades of the fifth century, and the subsequent arrival of the heathen Anglo-Saxons , Christian life in the east of the island

6160-433: The side opposite, the dormitory, raised on a vaulted undercroft , and the chapter-house adjacent, and the lodgings of the cellarer, responsible for providing both monks and guests with food, to the west. A passage under the dormitory led eastwards to the smaller or infirmary cloister, appropriated to sick and infirm monks. The hall and chapel of the infirmary extended east of this cloister, resembling in form and arrangement

6248-478: The south-east angle of the green court, placed near the most sacred part of the cathedral, as befitting the distinguished ecclesiastics or nobility who were assigned to him." The cellarer's buildings, where middle-class visitors were entertained, stood near the west end of the nave. The inferior pilgrims and paupers were relegated to the north hall or almonry, just within the gate. Priors of Christ Church Priory included John of Sittingbourne (elected 1222, previously

6336-501: The statues that currently adorn the west front of the cathedral were installed in the 1860s when the South Porch was being renovated. At that time, the niches were vacant and the Dean of the cathedral thought that the appearance of the cathedral would be improved if they were filled. The Victorian sculptor Theodore Pfyffers was commissioned to create the statues and most of them were installed by

6424-648: The stone was used in the fortifications of the Pale of Calais , but more of it was sold locally. The library, containing two thousand manuscripts, was destroyed and the treasure plundered. The royal residence was occasionally used by the monarch as late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, during which the buildings were leased to a succession of noblemen. In 1564, Elizabeth leased the palace to Lord Cobham , and in September 1573 she visited Canterbury and lodged at her palace of St Augustine's. On 7 September, her birthday, she attended

6512-410: The transepts, especially in the east walls, and the old apsidal chapels were not replaced until the mid-15th century. The arches of the new nave arcade were exceptionally high in proportion to the clerestory . The new transepts, aisles, and nave were roofed with lierne vaults , enriched with bosses. Most of the work was done during the priorate of Thomas Chillenden (1391–1411): Chillenden also built

6600-411: Was a cruciform building, with an aisled nave of nine bays, a pair of towers at the west end, aisleless transepts with apsidal chapels, a low crossing tower, and a short quire ending in three apses. It was dedicated in 1077. Under Lanfranc's successor Anselm , who was twice exiled from England, the responsibility for the rebuilding or improvement of the cathedral's fabric was largely left in the hands of

6688-460: Was back in use by 1180 and in that year the remains of Dunstan and Ælfheah were moved there from the crypt. The master-mason appointed to rebuild the quire was a Frenchman, William of Sens . Following his injury in a fall from the scaffolding in 1179 he was replaced by one of his former assistants, known as William the Englishman . In 1180–1184, in place of the old, square-ended, eastern chapel,

6776-511: Was built on the side of the abbey. This was a small square chapel that had its own buttresses. Within the chapel was the tomb of the Abbot of Bourne who died in 1334 and the Abbot of Colwel who died in 1375. Leybourne was buried in the chapel. She gave the manor of Dene in Thanet to the abbey and a chantry to say daily prayers for her after her death. Boggis describes the early 16th century leading up to

6864-618: Was destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII and the relics lost. In around 1576, the crypt of the cathedral was granted to the Huguenot congregation of Canterbury to be used as their Church of the Crypt . In 1642–1643, during the English Civil War , Puritan iconoclasts led by Edwin Sandys (Parliamentarian) caused significant damage during their "cleansing" of the cathedral. Included in that campaign

6952-559: Was disrupted. Textual sources however suggest that the Christian communities established in the Roman province survived in Western Britain during the fourth, fifth, and sixth centuries. This Western British Christianity proceeded to develop on its own terms. In 596, Pope Gregory I ordered that Augustine of Canterbury , previously the abbot of St Andrew's Benedictine Abbey in Rome, lead

7040-469: Was made archbishop. Augustine also founded the Abbey of St Peter and Paul outside the Canterbury city walls . This was later rededicated to St Augustine himself and was for many centuries the burial place of the successive archbishops. The abbey is part of the World Heritage Site of Canterbury, along with the cathedral and the ancient Church of St Martin . Bede recorded that Augustine reused

7128-443: Was placed directly above Becket's original tomb in the crypt. A marble plinth, raised on columns, supported what an early visitor, Walter of Coventry , described as "a coffin wonderfully wrought of gold and silver, and marvellously adorned with precious gems". Other accounts make clear that the gold was laid over a wooden chest, which in turn contained an iron-bound box holding Becket's remains. Further votive treasures were added to

7216-461: Was raised, "the Prior ... pointed out each jewel, telling its name in French, its value, and the name of its donor; for the principal of them were offerings sent by sovereign princes." The income from pilgrims (such as those portrayed in Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales ) who visited Becket's shrine, which was regarded as a place of healing, largely paid for the subsequent rebuilding of

7304-413: Was replaced by a Lady Chapel, built-in 1448–1455. The 235-foot (72 m) crossing tower was begun in 1433, although preparations had already been made during Chillenden's priorate when the piers had been reinforced. Further strengthening was found necessary around the beginning of the 16th century when buttressing arches were added under the southern and western tower arches. The tower is often known as

7392-459: Was replaced in 1990 with a bronze sculpture of Christ by Klaus Ringwald. The original Norman northwest tower, which had a lead spire until 1705, was demolished in 1834 owing to structural concerns. It was replaced with a Perpendicular-style twin of the southwest tower (designed by Thomas Mapilton), now known as the Arundel Tower, providing a more symmetrical appearance for the cathedral. This

7480-537: Was the destruction of the statue of Christ in the Christ Church Gate and the demolition of the wooden gates by a group led by Richard Culmer . The statue would not be replaced until 1990 but the gates were restored in 1660 and a great deal of other repair work started at that time; that would continue until 1704. In 1688, the joiner Roger Davis, citizen of London, removed the 13th-century misericords and replaced them with two rows of his own work on each side of

7568-475: Was the last major structural alteration to the cathedral to be made. In 1866, there were six residentiary canonries, of which one was annexed to the Archdeaconry of Canterbury and another to that of Maidstone . In September 1872, a large portion of the Trinity Chapel roof was completely destroyed by fire. There was no significant damage to the stonework or interior and the damage was quickly repaired. During

7656-489: Was thus contracted to build the tunnel for its customer, Eurotunnel, who would own and operate it. TML senior management were employees of the partner companies seconded to the new organisation. In October 1986 Eurotunnel was partially floated and the contractors and banks no longer exercised control over the company. Beginning in 1987 relations between TML and Eurotunnel deteriorated, with significant and increasingly public rows erupting over cost and programme management. With

7744-488: Was used as a bowling green and skittle ground. Ethelbert's Tower, the remaining tower of the Norman abbey, was taken down in 1822. Robert Ewell, in his Guide to St. Augustine’s Monastery and Missionary College wrote that in the first half of the 19th century, the abbey "reached its lowest point of degradation". The condition of the abbey did not go unnoticed. In 1844 a rich young landowner, member of parliament, and generous churchman, Alexander James Beresford Hope , visited

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