Canterbury, what a beautiful place, especially on a sunny day. The city was overflowing with people consisting of locals, tourists and just a few foreign school children to add to the measure.
The city has an abundance of quaint shops and historic buildings. I was in my element; however, my body wasn’t prepared to do the shop tour. I did achieve taking photos of various buildings of interest and a visit to Canterbury Cathedral.
Canterbury Tales is one of the main attractions in Canterbury. Mr Zebrakat and I didn’t indulge in Chaucer’s famous tales. Geoffrey Chaucer wrote 24 stories in middle English between 1342 to 1400. There were huge queues going into the building therefore it appeared to be very popular.
One of the most photographed properties in the UK, alongside Buckingham Palace, London. The building is also known as Crooked House, Kings Gallery or the Old Kings Shop. A delightful askew building from the 17th Century. It has been reported that the building got its skewed-up appearance after alterations to the internal chimney that caused the structure to slip sideways. The story told is that additional attempts were made to rectify the problem, nevertheless that caused more slippage. The property is now structurally secured by a steel frame. Therefore the front door is built askew with its corners altered to fit the frame.
The building is not usually open to the public, as it is in regular use by King’s School. The building can be viewed from the street and you can see the photos below.
Astonishing building and should be seen, if you are ever in Canterbury, without sounding to nerdy. The Cathedral is steeped in history and I managed to speak to a maintenance employee who gave us insight into the Cathedral and pointed out a couple of areas of greater interest.
There is no way I could write about the history of the Cathedral so I have obtained this info below from the Cathedral website to give you an overview through the centuries.
Through the Centuries
597 – St Augustine arrived in Kent and soon established the first Cathedral
1070-1077 – Cathedral rebuilt by Archbishop Lanfranc
1098-1130 – New Quire built over a Crypt (present Western Crypt)
1170 – Thomas Becket murdered in the Cathedral
1175-1184 – Quire rebuilt. Eastern Crypt, Trinity and Corona Chapels added (all as seen today)
1220 – Becket’s body placed in new Shrine in Trinity Chapel
1377-1405 – Lanfranc Nave demolished and rebuilt as seen today; Cloister vaulting inserted
c1450 – Pulpitum Screen constructed
1498 – Bell Harry Tower extended and the Cathedral largely complete as seen today
1538 – Becket’s Shrine destroyed by Henry VIII
1540 – Monastery dissolved by royal command
1541 – New Foundation of Dean and Chapter established
1660-1704 – Repair and refurbishing after Puritan damage
1834 – North West tower rebuilt
1954 – Library rebuilt, repairing War damage
1986 – Altar of the Sword’s Point (Martyrdom) restored
1988 – Compass Rose placed in the Nave
2000 – International Study Centre (Cathedral Lodge) opened in the Precincts
zebrakat 
Love the pictures, and totally agree Canterbury is a lovely place. Did you see Bagpuss too? X
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No I didn’t. We were only there 3 hrs but we did say we would go back again when I was better. X
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That was only 3 hours work😮 yes definitely worth a return trip when you are up to it x
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