Canterbury Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral: The Murder That Built a City
When four knights burst into Canterbury Cathedral on the evening of 29 December 1170 and killed Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, they created what would become the most important pilgrimage site in medieval England. Henry II’s muttered frustration, “Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?”, may or may not have been the direct order the knights acted on. Historians are still not certain. What followed is less ambiguous: Becket was canonised in 1173, less than three years after his death, pilgrims began arriving in vast numbers, and the wealth those pilgrims brought funded most of what you see in the cathedral today.
When monks prepared Becket’s body for burial, they found seven layers of clothing. Under his Archbishop’s robes he wore simple monk’s garb, and next to his skin a hair shirt crawling with lice. That detail did not make it into most medieval pilgrimage marketing, but it is one of the most revealing things known about the man. His shrine became England’s most visited religious site for nearly four centuries until Henry VIII ordered his bones destroyed and his name obliterated from records in 1538 during the Reformation. The place where his shrine stood in the Trinity Chapel is now marked by a single candle and a worn stone. The gold and jewels that once covered the shrine were stripped and taken to the royal treasury.
The cathedral itself is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of three in Canterbury alongside St Augustine’s Abbey and St Martin’s Church. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the mother church of the Anglican Communion worldwide.
Planning Your Visit
Tickets and Opening Hours
Adult admission is 17 GBP. Seniors (60 and over) and students pay 15.50 GBP. Children aged 5-17 pay 8.50 GBP; under-fives enter free. Family tickets (two adults, up to three children) cost 43 GBP. Booking online at the official website saves 1 GBP per ticket and is worth doing in peak summer months when walk-up queues at the Visitor Centre can be significant. Tickets bought on-site are available at the Visitor Centre gate.
The cathedral opens daily at 9am. Last entry on weekdays is 5pm and on Sundays at 4:30pm, with extended summer closing to 5:30pm. Times can shift around services, so check the official site before visiting. Bag searches take place at entry; carry only what you need to move through quickly.
Guided Tours
Guided tours run at regular intervals throughout the day from inside the cathedral. Each costs 5 GBP per person on top of admission and lasts approximately one hour. Tours cover the principal areas including the Nave, Quire, Trinity Chapel, and Crypt. Space is limited so arrive early in the morning to join a tour without waiting. Pre-booking is not available for standard tours; they operate on a first-come basis. Audio guides are available as an alternative for those who prefer to move at their own pace.
When to Go
Weekday mornings outside school holidays are the quietest visiting periods. Canterbury Cathedral draws heavy visitor traffic from late June through August, when school groups and coach tours arrive in volume by mid-morning. Arriving at opening time (9am) on a weekday gives roughly 90 minutes of relative calm before the day-trip crowds from London arrive. The Christmas period around 29 December, the anniversary of Becket’s murder, draws specific visitors and services marking the event.
What to See
The Nave
The central space of the cathedral runs 160 metres from west door to east end. The vaulted ceiling is a sustained piece of early Gothic engineering and the stained glass at the west end shows Bible scenes in deep medieval colours. The scale registers differently in person than in photographs; the proportions are genuinely monumental.
Becket’s Crown and the Trinity Chapel
The Trinity Chapel at the east end of the cathedral was built specifically to house Becket’s shrine after his canonisation. The canopied chair known as the Cathedra (the seat of the Archbishop) sits nearby. Becket’s Crown, a separate circular chapel at the far east end, was built to house a fragment of Becket’s skull. The floor tiles in the Trinity Chapel are original 12th-century work, worn smooth by centuries of pilgrims kneeling on them.
The Crypt
The Romanesque crypt beneath the choir is the oldest surviving part of the building, dating to the 11th century. The carved capitals on the columns here predate the Gothic work above by almost a century and are more varied and individually interesting than the uniform stonework of the later phases. Photography is not permitted in the Crypt. The space is noticeably cooler than the rest of the cathedral and less crowded at most times of day.
The Cloisters and Cathedral Precincts
The cloister garth adjacent to the Nave is a quiet quadrangle of fan-vaulted arcades. The Precincts beyond include the medieval Great Cloister, the remains of the monastery chapter house, and access to the cathedral gardens. The gardens are open to ticket holders and are particularly good in late spring.
St Augustine’s Abbey
A five-minute walk from the cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey was founded in 597 AD, making it the oldest Benedictine monastery in England. It is now a roofless ruin in the care of English Heritage and covered by a separate entry fee. The abbey precedes the cathedral by nearly 500 years and gives a clearer sense of the earliest Christian settlement in Canterbury. Combined tickets with the cathedral are worth investigating.
Where to Eat
The Goods Shed
Part farmers’ market, part restaurant, located in a Victorian railway shed near Canterbury West station. The menu changes based on produce available that day in the market, with fresh fish, seasonal vegetables, and excellent charcuterie. This is the most honest expression of local Kent cooking in the city. Lunch on a Saturday is particularly good when the market is at its busiest.
Franc
A French bistro on Northgate with a weekly-changing prix-fixe menu upstairs and a more casual wine bar on the ground floor. The wine bar takes walk-ins more readily than the restaurant. Food is reliably good and priced fairly for the quality.
The Fordwich Arms
Four kilometres north of Canterbury in the village of Fordwich, this Michelin-starred restaurant is worth the short taxi ride for a serious meal. Fordwich claims to be the smallest town in England. The kitchen serves modern British cooking with strong local sourcing. Book several weeks ahead for dinner.
Cafe du Soleil
Located in a converted 18th-century wool store by the River Stour, this café and restaurant serves stone-baked pizzas and seasonal dishes in a good setting for lunch after a cathedral visit. The riverside terrace is usable from spring through early autumn.
Refectory Kitchen
A popular breakfast and brunch venue in St Dunstan’s, a short walk west of the city centre. Good for an early meal before the cathedral opens, with standard brunch options (eggs, smashed avocado, bacon sandwiches) at reasonable prices.
Where to Stay
Canterbury Cathedral Lodge
Located within the Cathedral Precincts, this is the one accommodation option that places guests inside the cathedral grounds. Access to the grounds after visitor hours and the particular quiet of the precinct at night are the main draws. It is a clean, comfortable, and moderately priced hotel rather than a luxury property, but the location is genuinely unique. Book well in advance for summer stays.
Abode Canterbury
A boutique hotel in a Georgian building on High Street, around five minutes’ walk from the cathedral. Rooms are divided into four tiers (Comfortable through Fabulous), and the hotel restaurant and bar are both above average for a city-centre property. Good for a midrange stay with easy access to the main sights.
Old Weavers House
A 16th-century timber-framed building that has operated as a restaurant and accommodation provider for several decades. The building itself is worth seeing regardless of whether you stay; it sits directly on the River Stour and the lower level is partially built over the water.
Getting to Canterbury
Canterbury has two train stations: Canterbury East (closer to the city walls and St Augustine’s Abbey) and Canterbury West (closer to The Goods Shed and Westgate). From London St Pancras, Southeastern’s high-speed service reaches Canterbury West in approximately 55 minutes. From London Victoria, trains to Canterbury East take around 90 minutes. Day return tickets from London typically run 30-45 GBP depending on booking time; advance fares can be substantially lower.
By road, Canterbury is 90 kilometres from central London via the A2/M2. Parking within the city walls is limited and expensive; the Wincheap and Sturry Road park-and-ride sites are more practical for drivers.
Practical Tips
Canterbury Cathedral remains an active place of worship. Evensong services are held regularly, typically on weekdays at 5:30pm and Sunday at 3:30pm. Entry to Evensong is free, regardless of whether you have a day ticket. Services close the building to sightseeing, so check the schedule on the official website before planning your visit around specific areas.
The Heritage Pass, available from the Visitor Centre, covers admission to the cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey, and the Roman Museum on a single ticket and represents better value if you plan to visit all three. Give the cathedral a minimum of two hours; three is more comfortable if you want to cover the Crypt and the grounds without rushing.
Photography is permitted throughout except in the Crypt. Flash photography and tripods require prior permission from the cathedral office.