Gepgraphy

Canterbury is located in east Kent, about 55 miles east-southeast of London.

The coastal towns of Herne Bay and Whitstable are 6 miles to the north,
and Faversham is 8 miles to the northwest. Nearby villages include Rough
Common, Sturry and Tyler Hill.
The city is on the River Stour or Great Stour. The river divides south east of
the city, one branch flowing through the city, the other around the position of the
former walls. The geology of the area consists mainly of brickearth.

History
Prehistoric 14th century
The Canterbury area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Lower
Paleolithic axes, and Neolithic and Bronze Age pots have been found in the
area. Canterbury was first recorded as the main settlement of the Celtic tribe of
the Cantiaci, which inhabited most of modern-day Kent. In the 1st century AD,
the Romans captured
the
settlement
and
named
it Durovernum
Cantiacorum. The Romans rebuilt the city, with new streets in a grid pattern,
a theatre, a temple, a forum, and public baths. Although they did not maintain a
major military garrison, its position on Watling Street relative to the major Kentish
ports gave it considerable strategic importance. In the late 3rd century, to defend
against attack from barbarians, the Romans built an earth bank around the city and
a wall with seven gates, which enclosed an area of 130 acres.
In 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to convert its King
Ethelberht to Christianity. After the conversion, Canterbury, being a Roman town,
was chosen by Augustine as the center for his episcopal see in Kent, and an abbey
and cathedral were built. Augustine thus became the first Archbishop of
Canterbury. The town's new importance led to its revival, and trades developed in
pottery, textiles, and leather. By 630, gold coins were being struck at the
Canterbury mint. In 672, the Synod of Hertford gave the see of Canterbury
authority over the entire English Church.
In 842 and 851, Canterbury suffered great loss of life during Danish raids. In
978, Archbishop Dunstan refounded the abbey built by Augustine, and named it St
Augustine's Abbey. A second wave of Danish attacks began in 991, and in 1011 the
cathedral was burnt and Archbishop Alphege was killed in 1012. Remembering the
destruction caused by the Danes, the inhabitants of Canterbury did not
resist William the Conqueror's invasion in 1066. William immediately ordered a
wooden motte-and-bailey castle to be built by the Roman city wall. In the early
12th century, the castle was rebuilt with stone.

After the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the cathedral in 1170,

Canterbury became one of the most notable towns in Europe, as pilgrims from all
parts of Christendom came to visit his shrine. This pilgrimage provided the
framework for Geoffrey Chaucer's 14th-century collection of stories, The
Canterbury Tales.
Canterbury Castle was captured by the French Prince Louis during his
1215 invasion of England, before the death of John caused his English supporters
to desert his cause and support the young Henry III.

14-17 century
The Black Death hit Canterbury in 1348. At 10,000, Canterbury had the 10th
largest population in England; by the early 16th century, the population had fallen
to 3,000.
Between 1378 and 1402, the wall was virtually rebuilt, and new wall towers were
added. In 1381, during Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt, the castle and Archbishop's
Palace were sacked, and Archbishop Sudbury was beheaded in London.
In 1413 Henry IV became the only sovereign to be buried at the cathedral.
In 1448 Canterbury was granted a City Charter, which gave it a mayor and a high
sheriff; the city still has a Lord Mayor and Sheriff. In 1504 the cathedral's main
tower, the Bell Harry Tower, was completed, ending 400 years of building.
During the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the city's priory, nunnery and
three friaries were closed. St Augustine's Abbey, the 14th richest in England at the
time, was surrendered to the Crown, and its church and cloister were levelled. The
rest of the abbey was dismantled over the next 15 years, although part of the site
was converted to a palace. Thomas Becket's shrine in the Cathedral was
demolished and all the gold, silver and jewels were removed to the Tower of
London, and Becket's images, name and feasts were obliterated throughout the
kingdom, ending the pilgrimages.
In 1620 Robert Cushman negotiated the lease of the Mayflower at 59 Palace
Street for the purpose of transporting the Pilgrims to America.

18th centurypresent

By 1770, the castle had fallen into disrepair, and many parts of it were
demolished during the late 18th century and early 19th century. In 1787 all the
gates in the city wall, except for Westgatethe city jailwere demolished as a
result of a commission that found them impeding to new coach travel.
During the First World War, a number of barracks and voluntary hospitals
were set up around the city, and in 1917 a German bomber crash-landed near
Broad Oak Road. During the Second World War, 10,445 bombs dropped during
135 separate raids destroyed 731 homes and 296 other buildings in the city,
including the missionary college and Simon Langton Girls' Grammar Schools, and
115 people were killed. The most devastating raid was on 1 June 1942 during
the Baedeker Blitz.
Before the end of the war, architect Charles Holden drew up plans to
redevelop the city center, but locals were so opposed that the Citizens' Defence
Association was formed and swept to power in the 1945 municipal elections.
Rebuilding of the city center eventually began 10 years after the war. A ring road
was constructed in stages outside the city walls some time afterwards to alleviate
growing traffic problems in the city center, which was later pedestrianized. The
biggest expansion of the city occurred in the 1960s, with the arrival of
the University of Kent at Canterbury and Christ Church College.
The 1980s saw visits from Pope John Paul II and Queen Elizabeth II, and the
beginning of the annual Canterbury Festival. Canterbury received its own radio
station KMFM Canterbury in 1997. In 2000, during the redevelopment, a major
archaeological project was undertaken by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust,
known as the Big Dig, which was supported by Channel Four's Time Team.
Another famous visitor was Mahatma Gandhi, who came to the city in
October 1931; he met Hewlett Johnson, then Dean of Canterbury.

Demography.
The population is about 43 thousands of people. Residents of the city had an
average age of 37.1 years. Compared with the rest of England, the city had an
above-average proportion of foreign-born residents, at around 12%. Ninety-five
percent of residents were recorded as white; the largest minority group was
recorded as Asian, at 1.8% of the population. Religion was recorded as 68.2%
Christian, 1.1% Muslim,

Education
The city is host to three universities: The University of Kent, Canterbury
Christ Church University, the University for the Creative Arts.
Canterbury Christ Church University was founded as a teacher
training college in 1962 by the Church of England. In 1978 its range of courses
began to expand into other subjects, and in 1995 it was given the power to become
a University college. In 2005 it was granted full university status, and as of 2007 it
had around 15,000 students
The University for the Creative Arts is the oldest higher education institution
in the city, having been founded in 1882 by Thomas Sidney Cooper as the Sidney
Cooper School of Art.

Canterbury Cathedral.
History.
St Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory the Great, arrived in 597 AD as a
missionary and became the first Archbishop, establishing his seat (or Cathedra) in
Canterbury. In 1170 Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral
and ever since, the Cathedral has attracted thousands of pilgrims, as told most
famously in Geoffrey Chaucers Canterbury Tales. Today the Cathedral is still very
much a working, living church and community, where Services take place every
day and where stonemasons and stained glass conservators continue the tradition
of restoring old and adding new. For many millions of Anglicans all over the world
the Cathedral is their Mother Church and the place where the Archbishop of
Canterbury celebrates and presides over ceremonial Services.
World Heritage Site.
Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustines Abbey and St Martins Church make
up Canterburys World Heritage Site. St Martins Church, the building in which
Augustine and his followers first worshipped, is the oldest working church in
England. The ruins of St Augustines Abbey include the remains of the monastery
where his monks lived and worshipped and where Kentish Kings and the first
Archbishops were buried.

The precincts.
The Cathedral is set within its own walled Precincts and surrounded by
medieval buildings and ruins. Each building has its own story to tell - from the
Water Tower, a Romanesque gem once the centre of the monastic water supply, to
the monasterys Granary, Bakery and Brewery now part of Kings School. The
Chapter House, the largest of its kind in England, with its lofty oak roof and noble
seat for the Prior, still stands as a tribute to the monks who assembled here daily to
discuss the Cathedrals business and who made the Cathedral into one of the most
important churches in the world.
The Nave
One of the most magnificent surviving examples of English Perpendicular
Gothic the present Nave was built in the 14th century, taking 28 years to complete
and replacing a much smaller Romanesque Nave.
The Quire and Trinity Chapel
The Quire was re-built and extended in the 12th century after a disastrous
fire destroyed the earlier structure. It housed Thomas Beckets shrine until it was
demolished and removed during the Reformation by order of Henry VIII. Beautiful
stained glass windows illustrate miracles and stories associated with St Thomas.
The Crypt

The Crypt is the oldest part of the Cathedral and the largest of its period in
the country. It dates back to the 11th century and is Romanesque in style. Many of
its details survive intact, including traces of contemporary wall painting in St
Gabriels Chapel and an array of carved capitals and decorated columns.
The Martyrdom
Canterburys role as one of the worlds most important pilgrimage centres is
inextricably linked with the martyrdom of its most famous Archbishop, Thomas
Becket, in 1170. When, after a long lasting dispute, King Henry II is said to have
exclaimed Who will rid me of this turbulent priest? four knights set off for
Canterbury and murdered Thomas in his own Cathedral. A sword stroke was so
violent that it sliced the crown off his skull and shattered the blades tip on the
pavement. The murder took place in what is now known as The Martyrdom. Two
years later Thomas was made a saint.
Stained glass.

There can be no doubt that one of the greatest glories of Canterbury

Cathedral is its stained glass, and visitors from all over the world wonder at the
craftsmanship that dates back to the days of the murder of Thomas Becket. Indeed
the collection of 12th and 13th century glass - depicting miracles, royal
connections and Bible stories - is the finest in the country.
Tombs.
Canterbury Cathedral is rich in monuments and tombs of all periods,
including those of Edward the Black Prince and King Henry IV and his wife Joan
of Navarre. Other important tombs and include those of several Deans and
Archbishops.

Canterbury tales.
It is a collection of 24 stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle
English by Geoffrey Chaucer. In 1386, Chaucer became Controller of Customs and
Justice of Peace and, three years later, Clerk of the King's work in 1389. It was
during these years that Chaucer began working on his most famous text, The
Canterbury Tales. The tales are presented as part of a story-telling contest by a
group of pilgrims as they travel together on a journey from London to Canterbury
in order to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. The
prize for this contest is a free meal at the Tabard Inn at Southwark on their return.
He uses the tales and the descriptions of its characters to paint an ironic and
critical portrait of English society at the time, and particularly of the Church.
Chaucer's use of such a wide range of classes and types of people could be seen in
a book for the first time. Although the characters are fictional, they still offer a
variety of insights into the customs and practices of the time. Often, such insight
leads to a variety of discussions and disagreements among people in the 14th
century. For example, although various social classes are represented in these
stories and all of the pilgrims are on a spiritual quest, it is obvious that they are
more concerned with worldly things than spiritual. Structurally, the collection
resembles The Decameron, which Chaucer may have read during his first
diplomatic mission to Italy in 1372.