Canterbury Cathedral in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of t ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, is one of the oldest and most famous

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

structures in England. It forms part of a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

. It is the

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

of the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Just ...

, currently

Justin Welby Justin Portal Welby (born 6 January 1956) is a British bishop who is the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury. He has served in that role since 2013. Welby was previously the vicar of Southam, Warwickshire, and then Bishop of Durham, serving for ...

, leader of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Brit ...

and symbolic leader of the worldwide

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

. Its formal title is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at 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 the flow of pilgrims visiting the shrine of

Thomas Becket Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), was an English nobleman who served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and the ...

, 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 English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...

the cathedral was part of a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastic community known as Christ Church, Canterbury, as well as being the seat of the archbishop.

History

Roman

Tertullian Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...

refers to Christians in Briton as early as 208 AD. Origen mentions the church in 238 AD and in 314 Britain sent three Bishops to the

Council of Arles Arles (ancient Arelate) in the south of Roman Gaul (modern France) hosted several councils or synods referred to as ''Concilium Arelatense'' in the history of the early Christian church. Council of Arles in 314 The first council of Arles"Arles, S ...

. There is a medieval London tradition that

St Peter upon Cornhill St Peter upon Cornhill is an Anglican church on the corner of Cornhill and Gracechurch Street in the City of London of medieval, or possibly Roman origin. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt to the designs of Sir C ...

church in London was the seat of English Christianity until the founding of Canterbury in 597 AD. Whether this is true or not has not yet been established. However, St Peter's is positioned directly above the potential location of a pagan

Aedes ''Aedes'' is a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except perhaps Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity: '' Aedes albopictus'', a particularly invasive sp ...

(or shrine room) in the great Roman Basilica of London, and there is a tradition that a native British King,

Lucius Lucius ( el, Λούκιος ''Loukios''; ett, Luvcie) is a male given name derived from '' Lucius'' (abbreviated ''L.''), one of the small group of common Latin forenames ('' praenomina'') found in the culture of ancient Rome. Lucius derives from ...

, converted to Christianity in 179 AD and founded St Peter's as the seat of the archbishop of English church. Either way, Canterbury was therefore a relative latecomer to English Christianity. The cathedral's first bishop was

Augustine of Canterbury Augustine of Canterbury (early 6th century – probably 26 May 604) was a monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597. He is considered the "Apostle to the English" and a founder of the English Church.Delaney ''D ...

, previously

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

of St Andrew's Benedictine Abbey in Rome; when other dioceses were founded in England he was made archbishop. He was sent by

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregoria ...

in 596 as a missionary to the English. Augustine founded the cathedral in 597 and dedicated it to

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

, the

Holy Saviour Two names and a variety of titles are used to refer to Jesus in the New Testament. In Christianity, the two names Jesus and Emmanuel that refer to Jesus in the New Testament have salvific attributes.''Bible explorer's guide'' by John Phillips 20 ...

. Augustine also founded the Abbey of St Peter and Paul outside the

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

. 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

of Canterbury, along with the cathedral and the ancient Church of St Martin.

Early Medieval

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom ...

recorded that Augustine reused 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 The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narth ...

, and side-chapels to the north and south. A smaller subsidiary building was found to the south-west of these foundations. During the 9th or 10th century this church was replaced by a larger structure () with a squared west end. It appears to have had a square central tower. The 11th-century chronicler

Eadmer Eadmer or Edmer ( – ) was an English historian, theologian, and ecclesiastic. He is known for being a contemporary biographer of his archbishop and companion, Saint Anselm, in his ''Vita Anselmi'', and for his ''Historia novorum in ...

, 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

basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...

n form, with an eastern apse. During the reforms of

Dunstan Saint Dunstan (c. 909 – 19 May 988) was an English bishop. He was successively Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, Bishop of Worcester, Bishop of London and Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in ...

, 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 and the community only became fully monastic from

Lanfranc Lanfranc, OSB (1005 1010 – 24 May 1089) was a celebrated Italian jurist who renounced his career to become a Benedictine monk at Bec in Normandy. He served successively as prior of Bec Abbey and abbot of St Stephen in Normandy and the ...

's time onwards (with monastic constitutions addressed by him to Prior Henry). Dunstan was buried on the south side of the high altar. Anglo-Saxon King

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...

and Norman-born

Emma of Normandy Emma of Normandy (referred to as Ælfgifu in royal documents; c. 984 – 6 March 1052) was a Norman-born noblewoman who became the English, Danish, and Norwegian queen through her marriages to the Anglo-Saxon king Æthelred the Unready and the ...

were married at Canterbury Cathedral in the Spring of 1002, and Emma was consecrated "Queen

Ælfgifu Ælfgifu (also ''Ælfgyfu''; ''Elfgifa, Elfgiva, Elgiva'') is an Anglo-Saxon feminine personal name, from ''ælf'' " elf" and ''gifu'' "gift". When Emma of Normandy, the later mother of Edward the Confessor, became queen of England in 1002, she ...

". 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 a western apse was added as an oratory of

Saint Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

, probably during the archbishopric of

Lyfing Lyfing (from ''leof'', meaning "darling") is an Anglo-Saxon given name. Notable people bearing this name include: * Lyfing, Archbishop of Canterbury (died 1020), advisor to King Ethelred the Unready * Lyfing of Winchester Lyfing of Winchester ...

(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 A westwork (german: Westwerk), forepart, avant-corps or avancorpo is the monumental, often west-facing entrance section of a Carolingian, Ottonian, or Romanesque church. The exterior consists of multiple stories between two towers. The interio ...

. 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, the arcade walls were strengthened and towers added to the eastern corners of the church.

Norman

The cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1067, a year after the Norman Conquest. Rebuilding began in 1070 under the first Norman archbishop,

(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 Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000, 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 the

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be low ...

s. Following the election of Prior

Ernulf Ernulf (1040 – 15 March 1124) was a French Benedictine monk who became prior of Christ Church in Canterbury, abbot of Peterborough, and bishop of Rochester in England. A jurist and an architect as well, he was responsible for greatly expandi ...

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 A crypt (from Latin '' crypta'' " vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics. Originally, crypts were typically found below the main apse of a c ...

. 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; the east end was semicircular in plan, with three chapels opening off an

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

. A free-standing

campanile A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tow ...

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 William of Malmesbury ( la, Willelmus Malmesbiriensis; ) was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. He has been ranked among the most talented English historians since Bede. Modern historian C. Warren Hollister described him as " ...

wrote: "Nothing like it could be seen in England either for the light of its glass windows, the gleaming of its marble pavements, or 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.

Plantagenet period

Martyrdom of Thomas Becket

Canterbury Cathedral Choir 2, Kent, UK - Diliff

A pivotal moment in the history of the cathedral was the

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...

of the archbishop,

, in the north-west

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

(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, Becket was the second Archbishop of Canterbury to be murdered. The posthumous veneration of Becket transformed 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.

Rebuilding of the quire

TOMB OF THE BLACK PRINCE, CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL

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 the outer walls of the quire, which were increased in height by 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 Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone. Geology St ...

was used for the shafting. The quire 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 William of Sens or Guillaume de Sens (died August 11, 1180) was a 12th-century French master mason and architect, believed to have been born at Sens, France. He is known for rebuilding the choir of Canterbury Cathedral between 1174 and 1177, cou ...

. 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 William the Englishman (active from 1174, died circa 1214) was an English architect and stonemason. He completed the work done on Canterbury Cathedral in England by the French architect William of Sens, after the latter was badly injured in a fall ...

Trinity Chapel and Shrine of Thomas Becket

In 1180–1184, in place of the old, square-ended, eastern chapel, 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 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 Edward of Woodstock, known to history as the Black Prince (15 June 1330 – 8 June 1376), was the eldest son of King Edward III of England, and the heir apparent to the English throne. He died before his father and so his son, Richard II, suc ...

") and King Henry IV. The shrine in the Trinity Chapel 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 Walter of Coventry (fl. 1290), English monk and chronicler, who was apparently connected with a religious house in the province of York, is known to us only through the historical compilation which bears his name, the ''Memoriale fratris Walteri d ...

, 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 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 This page is a glossary of architecture. A B C The Caryatid Porch of the Erech ...

") 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 Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

, who visited in 1512–1514, recorded that, once the cover 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

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the adherent of ...

s (such as those portrayed in

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

's ''

Canterbury Tales ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's '' magnum opu ...

'') who visited Becket's shrine, which was regarded as a place of healing, largely paid for the subsequent rebuilding of the cathedral and its associated buildings. This revenue included the profits from the sale of

pilgrim badge Pilgrim badges are decorations worn by some of those who undertake a Christian pilgrimage to a place considered holy by the Church. They became very popular among Catholics in the later medieval period. Typically made of lead alloy, they were sold ...

s depicting Becket, his martyrdom, or his shrine. The shrine was removed in 1538. King Henry VIII 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.

Monastic buildings

Canterbury Cathedral Cloisters, Kent, UK - Diliff

Christ Church Canterbury Willis 1868 Plate 1 archaeologiacant07kent 0 0303

A bird's-eye view of the cathedral and its monastic buildings, made in about 1165 and known as the "waterworks plan" is preserved in the

Eadwine Psalter The Eadwine Psalter or Eadwin Psalter is a heavily illuminated 12th-century psalter named after the scribe Eadwine, a monk of Christ Church, Canterbury (now Canterbury Cathedral), who was perhaps the "project manager" for the large and excepti ...

in the library of

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

. 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 , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

, although, unusually, the

cloister A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against ...

and monastic buildings were to the north, rather than the south of the church. There was a separate

chapter-house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

which still exists, said to be "the largest of its kind in all of England". Stained glass here depicts the history of Canterbury. CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL GLASS C7471

The buildings formed separate groups around the church. Adjoining it, on the north side, stood the cloister and the buildings devoted to 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 the church, beyond the precinct of the monastery, was the

eleemosynary Eleemosynary may refer to: *Eleemosynary, relating to charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (prac ...

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 the side opposite, the dormitory, raised on a vaulted

undercroft An undercroft is traditionally a cellar or storage room, often brick-lined and vaulted, and used for storage in buildings since medieval times. In modern usage, an undercroft is generally a ground (street-level) area which is relatively open ...

, 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. Infirmary Chapel ruins, Canterbury, Kent - geograph

Infirmary Chapel ruins, Canterbury, Kent - geograph

The hall and chapel of the infirmary extended east of this cloister, resembling in form and arrangement 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 A common room is a type of shared lounge, most often found in halls of residence or dormitories, at (for example) universities, colleges, military bases, hospitals, rest homes, hostels, and even minimum-security prisons. They are generally ...

of the monks. At its northeast corner access was given from the dormitory to the

necessarium The reredorter or necessarium (the latter being the original term) was a communal latrine found in mediaeval monasteries in Western Europe and later also in some New World monasteries. Etymology The word is composed from dorter and the Middle En ...

, a building in the form of a Norman hall, long by broad, containing 55 seats. It was constructed with careful regard to hygiene, with a stream of water running through it from end to end. Canterbury - lavatory tower03b

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, 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 the refectory door in the cloister were two lavatories, where the monks washed before and after eating. One of these is the circular two story lavatory 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 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 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 Pope Gregory IX ( la, Gregorius IX; born Ugolino di Conti; c. 1145 or before 1170 – 22 August 1241) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 March 1227 until his death in 1241. He is known for issuing the '' Decre ...

onwards – the right to a free election (though with the archbishop overseeing their choice). Monks of the priory have included

Æthelric I Æthelric I (died 1038) was an Anglo-Saxon Bishop of Selsey. Life Perhaps previously a monk at Christ Church Canterbury, Æthelric was probably Bishop of Selsey by 1032, when he witnessed a charter of King Cnut. Nothing else is known of his o ...

Æthelric II Æthelric (died ) was the second to last medieval Bishop of Selsey in England before the see was moved to Chichester. Consecrated a bishop in 1058, he was deposed in 1070 for unknown reasons and then imprisoned by King William I of England. H ...

, Walter d'Eynsham,

Reginald fitz Jocelin Reginald Fitz Jocelin (died 26 December 1191) was a medieval Bishop of Bath and an Archbishop of Canterbury-elect in England. A member of an Anglo-Norman noble family, he was the son of a bishop, and was educated in Italy. He was a household ...

(admitted as a confrater shortly before his death),

Nigel de Longchamps Nigel de Longchamps, also known as ''Nigel Witeker'', (fl. c. 1190, died c. 1200), ''Neel de Longchamps'', or ''Nigel of Canterbury'', was an Anglo-Norman satirist and poet of the late twelfth century, writing in Latin. He is known to have been a m ...

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 Baldwin of Forde or FordSharpe ''Handlist of Latin Writers'' pp. 66–67 ( – 19 November 1190) was Archbishop of Canterbury between 1185 and 1190. The son of a clergyman, he studied canon law and theology at Bologna and was tutor to Po ...

and

Thomas Cobham Thomas Cobham (died 1327) was an English churchman, who was Archbishop-elect of Canterbury in 1313 and later Bishop of Worcester from 1317 to 1327. Cobham earned a Doctor of Theology and a Doctor of Canon Law

14th and 15th centuries

Early in 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 The 1382 Dover Straits earthquake occurred at 15:00 on 21 May. It had an estimated magnitude of 6.0 and a maximum felt intensity of VII–VIII on the Mercalli intensity scale. Based on contemporary reports of damage, the epicentre is thought to ...

, losing its bells and campanile. Canterbury cathedral plan

From the late 14th century the nave and transepts were rebuilt, on the Norman foundations in the Perpendicular style under the direction of the noted master mason

Henry Yevele Henry Yevele (''c''. 1320 – 1400) was the most prolific and successful master mason active in late medieval England. The first document relating to him is dated 3 December 1353, when he purchased the freedom of London. In February 1356 he was su ...

. In contrast to the contemporary rebuilding of the nave at

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

, 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 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 Thomas Chillenden (died 15 August 1411) was Prior of Christ Church Priory, Canterbury from 1391 to 1410. Under him, from 1391 to 1400, the Cathedral-Priory church's nave was rebuilt in the Perpendicular style of English Gothic architecture. Lif ...

(1391–1411): Chillenden also built 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. Canterbury Cathedral Nave 1, Kent, UK - Diliff

Canterbury Cathedral Nave 1, Kent, UK - Diliff

From 1396 the cloisters were repaired and remodeled 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 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 was replaced by a Lady Chapel, built-in 1448–1455. The 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 the "Angel Steeple", after a gilded angel that once stood on one of its pinnacles.

Modern period

Canterbury Cathedral font, Kent, UK - Diliff

The Reformation, Dissolution and Puritanism

The cathedral ceased to be an abbey during the Dissolution of the Monasteries when all religious houses were suppressed. Canterbury surrendered in March 1539, and 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 was destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII and the relics lost. In 1642–1643, during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I (" Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of r ...

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become more Protestant. ...

iconoclasts led by Edwin Sandys (Parliamentarian) caused significant damage during their "cleansing" of the cathedral. Included in that campaign 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 Most Reverend Canon Richard Culmer of Canterbury (1597–1662)B.A M.A Ddiv was an English Puritan clergyman. iconoclast and Theologian. He is listed by the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''

. 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.

Furnishings

In 1688, the joiner Roger Davis, citizen of London, removed the 13th century

misericords A misericord (sometimes named mercy seat, like the biblical object) is a small wooden structure formed on the underside of a folding seat in a church which, when the seat is folded up, is intended to act as a shelf to support a person in a par ...

and replaced them with two rows of his own work on each side of 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 Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...

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 Gloucester Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Peter and the Holy and Indivisible Trinity, in Gloucester, England, stands in the north of the city near the River Severn. It originated with the establishment of a minster dedicated to ...

Worcester Cathedral Worcester Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Worcester, in Worcestershire, England, situated on a bank overlooking the River Severn. It is the seat of the Bishop of Worcester. Its official name is the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Bless ...

and

New College, Oxford New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at ...

Canterbury Cathedral, view of the Western Towers engraved by J

Statues on the West Front

Most of 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 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

and

, to

Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Hen ...

and

William Laud William Laud (; 7 October 1573 – 10 January 1645) was a bishop in the Church of England. Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury by Charles I in 1633, Laud was a key advocate of Charles I's religious reforms, he was arrested by Parliament in 1640 ...

are represented. Kings and Queens from Æthelberht and

Bertha of Kent Saint Bertha or Saint Aldeberge (c. 565 – d. in or after 601) was the queen of Kent whose influence led to the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England. She was canonized as a saint for her role in its establishment during that period of En ...

, to

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

and

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...

are included.

18th century to the present

The original towers of Christ Church Gate were removed in 1803 and were replaced in 1937. The statue of Christ 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 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. CANTERBURY ALTAR 7431

During the bombing raids of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

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 Giles may refer to: People * Giles (given name), male given name (Latin: ''Aegidius'') * Giles (surname), family name * Saint Giles (650–710), 7th–8th-century Christian hermit saint * Giles of Assisi, Aegidius of Assisi, 13th-century com ...

depicting 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 The visit of Pope John Paul II to the United Kingdom in 1982 was the first visit there by a reigning Pope. The Pope arrived in the UK on Friday 28 May, and during his time there visited nine cities, delivering 16 major addresses. Among significant ...

in 1982.

Antony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; '' Another ...

's sculpture ''

Transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

'' 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 Dame Sarah Elisabeth Mullally, ('' née'' Bowser; born 26 March 1962) is a British Anglican bishop, Lord Spiritual and former nurse. She has been Bishop of London since 8 March 2018.

and

Rachel Treweek Rachel Treweek (née Montgomery; born 4 February 1963 at Broxbourne, Hertfordshire) is an Anglican bishop who sits in the House of Lords as a Lord Spiritual. Since June 2015, she has served as Bishop of Gloucester, the first female diocesan bi ...

became the first women to be ordained as bishops in the cathedral, as

Bishop of Crediton The Bishop of Crediton is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Crediton in Devon, England. The title was originally used by the Anglo-Saxons in the 10th and 11th centuries for a diocese covering Devon and Cornwall. It is now ...

and

Bishop of Gloucester The Bishop of Gloucester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Gloucester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the County of Gloucestershire and part of the County of Worcestershire. The see's centre of governan ...

respectively.First female diocesan bishop in C of E consecrated
. Anglicannews.org. Retrieved on 23 July 2015. In 2022, it was announced that

David Monteith David Robert Malvern Monteith (born 5 June 1968) is a Northern Irish Anglican priest in the Church of England and is the current Dean of Canterbury, the senior canon of Canterbury Cathedral. He was previously the Dean of Leicester since his appo ...

, who is openly gay and in a

civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

, would serve as the Dean of the Cathedral. The cathedral is the Regimental Church of the

Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (or PWRR, also known as 'The Tigers') is the senior English line infantry regiment of the British Army, second in the line infantry order of precedence to the Royal Regiment of Scotland and part of the Q ...

. The cathedral is also used as one of the venues for the graduation ceremonies of the

University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...

and

Canterbury Christ Church University , mottoeng = The truth shall set you free , established = 2005 – gained University status 1962 – teacher training college , type = Public , religious_affiliation = Church of England , city ...

Conservation

Much of the

stonework Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, m ...

at Canterbury Cathedral is damaged and crumbling, the roofs are leaking and much of the

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

is badly corroded. The last quinquennial structural review revealed that a combination of centuries of weathering, pollution and constant use had taken its toll on the ancient building and some serious problems were in need of urgent action. The single biggest challenge is the roof. The cathedral is covered by a huge expanse of lead and whilst the majority of the wooden framework remains sound, much of the lead itself needs replacing. In addition, a large amount of concrete encasing the bottom of the roof beams needs to be removed and replaced with traditional wooden footers. Conservation of the external masonry, particularly on the northern side of the building, is equally important. The cathedral is in part built of

Caen stone Caen stone (french: Pierre de Caen) is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in north-western France near the city of Caen. The limestone is a fine grained oolitic limestone formed in shallow water lagoons in the Bathonian Age about ...

. Detailed archaeological studies are undertaken to identify exactly which stones need to be replaced or repaired. In addition, specialist cleaning techniques are used to remove accumulated chemical deposits which are very damaging to the building. As regards the interior, priorities include decoration of the vaults of the Trinity Chapel, conservation work in several other chapels, and major improvements to the Treasury building, which contains, amongst other things, the choir practice rooms. Canterbury stained glass 7379

The earliest coloured glass windows in the cathedral date from the late 12th century, whilst others are as new as the four Ervin Bossányi windows in the south-east transept (1957). Many have already been conserved and protected by the team of stained glass conservators led by Leonie Seliger. However, much conservation work remains to be done, notably on the

Oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American s ...

window in the south-east transept – a late 12th-century round window. During the autumn of 2008, a major restoration of the lead roof over the transept was completed at a cost of approximately £500,000. In 2018, the lead roof of the nave was replaced. The extensive restoration of the cathedral that was underway in mid-2018 was part of a 2016–2021 schedule that also includes improved landscaping and accessibility, new visitor facilities and a general external restoration. The so-called Canterbury Journey project was expected to cost nearly £25 million; the funding included a £13.8 million Heritage Lottery grant, £10.9 million from the Canterbury Cathedral Trust and £250,000 from the Friends of the Cathedral.

Foundation

Main west entrance, Canterbury Cathedral

The Foundation is the authorised staffing establishment of the cathedral, few of whom are clergy. The head of the cathedral is the

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

, currently

, who is assisted by a chapter of 30 canons, four of whom are residentiary, the others being honorary appointments of senior clergy in the

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associ ...

. There are also a number of lay canons who all together form the greater chapter which has the legal responsibility both for the cathedral itself and also for the formal election of an archbishop when there is a vacancy-in-see. By English law and custom, they may only elect the person who has been nominated by the

monarch A monarch is a head of stateWebster's II New College DictionarMonarch Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority ...

on the advice of the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

. The Foundation also includes the choristers, lay clerks, organists, King's Scholars, the

Six Preachers The college of Six Preachers of Canterbury Cathedral was created by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer as part of the reorganisation of the monastic Christ Church Priory into the new secular Cathedral. First mentioned in a letter of Cranmer to Thomas Cro ...

and a range of other officers; some of these posts are moribund, such as that of the cathedral barber. The cathedral has a workforce of over 300 (many of whom work part-time), and approximately 800 volunteers.

Dean and Chapter

As of 1 August 2022: *

–

(since 17 December 2022) *

Archdeacon of Canterbury The Archdeacon of Canterbury is a senior office-holder in the Diocese of Canterbury (a division of the Church of England Province of Canterbury). Like other archdeacons, he or she is an administrator in the diocese at large (having oversight of ...

and Canon Residentiary – William Adam (Archdeacon and Canon since 18 July 2022 collation) *Canon Librarian – Tim Naish (since 22 April 2018) *Canon Missioner – Emma Pennington (since 16 March 2019) *Canon Treasurer (

Diocesan Canon According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

) – Andrew Dodd (since 27 September 2020 installation) The Cathedral uses "Vice Dean" not of one particular appointee, but to refer to the

Canon in Residence Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western c ...

for each month. Minor canons: *Precentor – Max Kramer (since 10 June 2017)

Finance

Canterbury Cathedral receives no government or state funding and only occasional grants from

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. It is not funded by the Church of England. The

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Ecc ...

pay the salary of the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

and two of the residentiary canons only. The cathedral is therefore largely self-funded. Around £18,000 is spent each day (2017) on running costs. In order to meet these costs the cathedral has to rely on income from entry fees paid by visitors and a number of commercial operations such as property rental, the Cathedral Shop, as well as the Cathedral Lodge Hotel and Conference Centre.

Appeal

The "Save Canterbury Cathedral" appeal was launched in October 2006 to protect and enhance the cathedral's future as a centre of worship,

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

and culture. The aim was to raise £50 million; by the end of 2010 the appeal had raised £11.5 million, and as at May 2014 over £20 million had been raised. The core part of the fundraising programme is focused on the cathedral's fabric. The major

conservation-restoration The conservation and restoration of cultural property focuses on protection and care of cultural property (tangible cultural heritage), including artworks, architecture, archaeology, and museum collections. Conservation activities include preve ...

projects already identified will cost £30 million. Fabric conservation is the most urgent element of the campaign. The appeal – the third of its kind following major fundraising drives at Canterbury in the 1950s and 1970s – was launched to fund these projects.

Fundraising Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gathe ...

for the appeal will take place over a number of years both nationally and internationally, stressing the cathedral's role as the

mother church Mother church or matrice is a term depicting the Christian Church as a mother in her functions of nourishing and protecting the believer. It may also refer to the primary church of a Christian denomination or diocese, i.e. a cathedral or a metropo ...

of the worldwide

and as a

. An integrated conservation programme that addresses the priority areas has been drawn up by the cathedral's Surveyor to the Fabric, John Burton. Major repair and conservation projects to be funded by the appeal include roofs of the nave,

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, pa ...

s, and North West and South East

Transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building with ...

s; stone carvings,

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was mainly ...

s and stone facings of the

Bell Harry Tower A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...

; work on the North side of the Corona Chapel; conservation of the

Christ Church Gate Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

entry to the Precincts; conservation of stained glass and surrounding stonework throughout the cathedral; and preservation of the collection of historic books and

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

s. In addition, there are plans to refurbish the cathedral

pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks' ...

and renovations to the

Choir House A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

have already been completed, providing better facilities for choristers. Improvements are planned to the fabric of the library buildings and to the cathedral's audio-visual and lighting systems which will significantly benefit visitors including the disabled, visually impaired and hard of hearing. The appeal also aims to develop the outmoded workshop area and

studio, in order to ensure the survival of Canterbury as a

centre of excellence A center of excellence (COE or CoE ), also called excellence center, is a team, a shared facility or an entity that provides leadership, best practices, research, support or training for a focus area. Due to its broad usage and vague legal prec ...

for vital craft skills and to promote a sustainable maintenance base for work on the cathedral which can be viewed by the public. The fundraising group is the Canterbury Cathedral Trust, an independent, registered charity (1112590) seeking funds to provide conservation, craftsmanship, music and education. Since mid-2017, the Chief Executive has been Sarah Frankland. The Trust was able to obtain the £24.7m needed for The Canterbury Journey multi-year restoration programme which should be completed in 2021. In 2016–17 the Trust received £3.66m in donations and an additional £1.61m had been pledged for future projects. The next plan was to raise funds to restore and improve the Quire organ by 2020. In 2017, the cathedral was planning to have the new Welcome Centre open in 2019, with exhibition spaces and viewing gallery.

Police service

The cathedral has its own police service, known as the

Canterbury Cathedral Close Constables The Canterbury Cathedral Close Constables are a cathedral constabulary employed by Canterbury Cathedral to maintain order and security in and around the cathedral. They have the same police powers as regular police in the United Kingdom, incl ...

. They are attested Constables, with powers of arrest, who police and protect the Cathedral and Close. They also work with Kent Police.

Music

Polyphony, Polyphonic music written for the monks of Christ Church Priory, now Canterbury Cathedral, survives from the 13th century. The cathedral may have had an Organ (music), organ as early as the 12th century,Roger Bowers, 'The Liturgy of the Cathedral and its music, c. 1075–1642', In: ''A History of Canterbury Cathedral'', ed. P. Collinson, N. Ramsay, M. Sparks. (OUP 1995, revised edition 2002), pp. 408–450. though the names of organists are only recorded from the early 15th century. One of the earliest named composers associated with Canterbury Cathedral was Leonel Power, who was appointed master of the new Lady Chapel choir formed in 1438. The Reformation brought a period of decline in the cathedral's music which was revived under Dean Thomas Nevile, Thomas Neville in the early 17th century. Neville introduced instrumentalists into the cathedral's music who played cornett and sackbut, probably members of the city's band of waits. The cathedral acquired sets of Recorder (musical instrument), recorders, lutes and viols for the use of the choir boys and lay-clerks.

Organ

The organ at Canterbury is of four manuals and is in both south and the north quire aisles, as well as a nave division. It was built in 1886 by Henry Willis and subsequently rebuilt by the same firm in the mid-20th century. It was rebuilt by N. P. Mander in 1978 and reduced to three manuals at about that time. David Flood, Organist and Master of the Choristers for over 40 years, oversaw the redesign, specification and total expansion and rebuilding project of the Cathedral Organ in 2018-2020 The organ has now been fully restored and greatly enlarged, including reinstating the fourth manual, by Harrison and Harrison with work finishing in February 2020.

Organists

Organists and assistant organists at Canterbury Cathedral have included composers Clement Charlton Palmer, Gerald Hocken Knight and Philip Moore (organist), Philip Moore and musical directors Allan Wicks and Stephen Darlington. Following 42 years as both Assistant Organist and Organist and Master of the Choristers, David Flood (organist), David Flood retired on 29 December 2020. Following 10 years as Assistant Organist and latterly Director of the Girls' Choir and a period as Acting Director of Music, David Newsholme was appointed Director of Music in July 2021. The Assistant Organist is Jamie Rogers and he was appointed in December 2021.

Choirs

There has been a choral tradition at Canterbury Cathedral for 1400 years. The cathedral choir consists of up to 25 boy choristers and 12 lay clerks and choral scholars. The boys are aged eight to thirteen. They receive scholarships and attend St Edmund's School, Canterbury.Canterbury Cathedral Choir
, retrieved 1 March 2013. There are seven choral services a week with Choral Evensong at 5:30 pm Monday through Friday, with the boys alone on Thursday and men on Wednesday. On Saturday and Sunday, there is evensong at 3:15 pm or 5:30pm and Eucharist on Sunday at 11 am. There are numerous extra services, especially at Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost. The Girls' Choir of Canterbury Cathedral was founded in 2014 and their first performance at Evensong, in January, was attended by more than 600 people and widely covered by the international press. They gave their first concert in December of that year. They now share their duties equally with the boys of the choir and sometimes work together. The girls are aged 12 to 18. They attend local schools in Canterbury and some further afield.

Bells

The cathedral has a total of 21 bells in the three towers: The South West Tower (Oxford Tower) contains the cathedral's main ring of bells, hung for change ringing in the English style. There are fourteen bells – a ring of twelve with two semitones, which allow for ringing on ten, eight or six bells while still remaining in tune. All of the bells were cast in 1981 by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry from seven bells of the old peal of twelve with new metal added and rehung in a new frame. The length (draught) of the ropes was increased by lowering the floor of the ringing chamber to the level of the south aisle vault at the same time, also allowing for the new bells to be set lower in the belfry than the old, with the intention of reducing stress on the Medieval structure. The heaviest bell (tenor) of this ring weighs . The ringers practise on Thursday at 7:15 pm. The North West Tower (Arundel Tower) contains the cathedral's clock chime. The five-quarter chimes were taken from the old peal of twelve in the Oxford Tower (where the clock was originally), and hung from beams in the Arundel Tower. The chimes are struck on the eighth Gregorian tone, which is also used at Merton College, Oxford. The hour is struck on Great Dunstan, the largest bell in Kent at , which is also swung on Sunday mornings for Matins. In 1316 Prior Henry of Eastry gave a large bell dedicated to Saint Thomas, which weighed . Later, in 1343, Prior Hathbrand gave bells dedicated to Jesus and St Dunstan. At this time the bells in campanile were rehung and their names recorded as "Jesus", "Dunstan", "Mary", "Crundale", "Elphy" (Ælfheah) and "Thomas". In the

the campanile fell, destroying the first three named bells. Following its reconstruction, the other three bells were rehung, together with two others, of whose casting no record remains. The oldest bell in the cathedral is Bell Harry (approximately ), which hangs in a cage on the top of the central tower to which the bell lends its name. This bell was cast by Joseph Hatch (bellfounder), Joseph Hatch in 1635, and is struck at 8 am and 9 pm every day to announce the opening and closing of the cathedral, and also occasionally for services as a Sanctus bell. The cathedral also has custody of the bell of HMS Canterbury (1915), HMS ''Canterbury'', a World War I-era light cruiser, hung near the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment), Buffs Chapel in the southwest transept.

Library

Lyghfield Bible - 2018 auction catalogue - 10

The cathedral library has a collection of about 30,000 books and pamphlets printed before the 20th century and about 20,000 later books and serials. Many of the earlier books were acquired as part of donated collections. It is rich in church history, older theology, British history (including local history), travel, science and medicine, and the Abolitionism in the United Kingdom, anti-slavery movement. The library's holdings are included in the online catalogue of the library of the

. In July 2018, the cathedral purchased at auction a medieval Trussel Bible for £100,000. This bible, subsequently renamed the "Lyghfield Bible", after the monk William Lighfyld, had previously been at Canterbury, being removed following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Dissolution.

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Sacred Destinations: Canterbury Cathedral

BBC news item re. Caen stone sourced for cathedral repairs

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