CANTERBURY, krin'ter-Wel (AS. uburh, burg of the Nents, from gem pl. of ('ant oar, Kentish man + burl:, town). A municipal and Parliamentary borough, civic county. and cathedral city in Kent. England. on the river Stour, 56 miles east-southeast of Lon don. on the highroad from London to Dover (Map: England, 11 5). It is the archiepiscopal see of the primate, and the eeclesiastical metrop olis of all England. The city, traversed by two main branches of the river, stands on an undu lating plain between hills of moderate height. It dates from the early period of English his tory, and retains many of the aspects of an old town. High Street containing several media al houses with gabled ends and projecting fronts. One of the gates and some remains of the an cient city wall still exist, and near the wall is an artificial mound, 80 feet high, known as the Dane John (probably Donjon), from the summit of which a fine view of the country around is obtained. Connected with this mound is a pub lic garden, laid out in the end of the Eighteenth Century. The ruins of a Norman castle also stand near the city wall.
Christchurch Cathedral. the crowning archi tectural feature of Canterbury, occupies almost the central point of the city. it stands amid its own precincts, to which admission is obtained through a beautiful gate of Perpendicular archi tecture erected in 1517. The cathedral is a magnificent building. 545 feet long and 156 feet broad at the eastern transepts. Its general as pect is of the Perpendicular style of architecture. although it represents various phases of the architectural development of several centuries. The noble proportions of its nave, choir, its lofty central tower, its double set of tran septs. and its northwest and southwest towers are particularly impressive, as viewed from the t ra nce gateway.
When Saint Augustine became Archbishop of Canterbury (about 600), he consecrated, under the name of Christ's Church, Queen Bertha's Church on Saint INIartin's hill, which had been formerly used by Roman Christians. Cuthbert, the eleventh Archbishop (740), added a church to the east of this. In the course of ages it re ceived numerous additions, until it assumed its magnificent form. Among those who helped to repair, enlarge, and rebuild it were Archbishops Odo (940). Lanfrane (1070), and Anselm (1093). In 1174 the choir was de stro•ed by fire, and a number of French and English artificers were employed to rebuild it. Among the former W11 ti William of Sens, a man of real genius, to whom the work was intrusted. The church was Hell in relics. Plegemund had brought hither the body I if the martyr 'Blasius from Rome; there were the relies of Saint W il fred, Saint Dunstan, and Saint Elfege; While the murder of Thomas Beeket (q.v.) added a still more popular name to the list of martyrs. The offerings at these shrines, especially the last, contributed greatly to defray the expenses of the mag4fiticent work. William of Sens did not, however, live to see its completion, dying from injuries received through a fall from the clerestory. Ile Was succeeded by another Wil liam, an Englishman, and to him we owe the completion of the existing unique and beautiful choir, terminated by the corona or circular chapel called Becket's Crown. Gervasius, a
monk, who witnessed the lire of 1174, has left an account of it. relating that the parts of Lan frane's church which remained in his time were the nave, the central and western towers, the western transepts, and their eastern chapels.
In the Fourteenth Century the nave and tran septs were transformed into the Perpendicular style of that period. The central tower (called the Angel Steeple) was carried up (1486-1504) to about double its original height. also in the Perpendicular style: it is 231 feet high and 35 feet in diameter. The northwest tower, taken down in 1834, was replaced by the existing one to match its southwest neighbor; the old tower was 113 feet high, and divided into five stories. The Norman plinth still remains on each side of the nave, in the side aisle, and portions of Nor man ashlaring may still be seen about the tran septs outside the west wall, and on the eastern piers of the great tower. The indiscriminate use of the round or Norman, and the pointed or early English arch, is also a very striking fea ture in the eastern part of the building. The Lady Chapel (now called the Dean's Chapel), with its beautiful fan-vaulted roof, stands on the north side of the church, and was built in 1368. The north transept. where Becket was murdered on Tuesday, December 29, 1171). is called the "Alartyrdom. Fifty years later his re mains were removed from the crypt to a shrine in the newly erected Trinity Chapel, eastward of the choir. About the year 1500 the yearly of ferings at this shrine amounted to 820.000; but they had then declined much in value. A mosaic pavement still remains in front of the place where the shrine stood, and the stone steps which lead up to it are worn by the knees of countless pilgrims: but during the Reforma tion period the shrine itself was demolished (1538) by Henry commissioners; and, according to tradition, the saint's remains were burned. In 1643 the building was further 'puri fied: as it was called. by order of Parliament. Still, many interesting monuments remain, such as the tomb of Stephen Langton: that which is commonly. but wrongly, supposed to be the tomb of Archbishop TheobaId; with those of the Black Prince, of Henry IV.. of Archbishops Alaphan, Peekham, Chicheley, Courtenay, Sudbury, Strat ford. Kemp, Bourchier, •arham, and of Car dinal Pole. The crypt is of greater extent and loftier than any other in England, owing to the choir being raised by numerous steps at the east end. llere, in 1888, a stone caitiff containing the remains of a skeleton, supposed to be Ileek• et's, wits discovered and reinterred. In 1561 this crypt was given up by Elizabeth to a con gregation of French and Flemish refugees, and a French service is still held here. in 1872 the church narrowly escaped tion for the fourth time by fire. Other build ings of the cathedral establishment include the deanery, the chapter-house, the treasury, the cloisters, and the baptistery; while remains of the archiepiscopal palace, the prior's house, the dormitory. and hostelries of different grades are also seen in the precincts.