Day Trip to Canterbury

LD14Jly
Day 15
Trip to Canterbury

I have to admit that this is a lot harder than I thought, both the demands of keeping up with the activities at NSMC and the touring. I will just have to do my best….

Today we decided to take the train to Canterbury in Kent. We caught the train right at London Bridge station and arrived about 1 ½ hours later in this medieval wonderland after some interesting sights of the countryside to the east of London.

After a short walk, we came to the West Gate Towers, one of England’s best-preserved medieval fortified gatehouses. The arch beneath leads into St. Peter’s street (which becomes High St. then St. George’s St. later on), a busy pedestrian mall lined with shops, pubs and historical attractions. We stopped briefly to consider the river cruises and view the famous “dunking stool” (if you confessed you were a witch you were burned; if you didn’t you were drowned!).

The highlight was the Cathedral, of course, most famous for as the place where Archbishop Thomas Beckett was murdered (I believe the date was 1070). It rests in it’s own enclosed compound, surrounded by lawn and out buildings. There was an Evensong scheduled for that day; so we were not permitted to tour the entire building, but later caught part of the service and were able to hear the choir and the organ. We also toured the crypt, a dark, cool place with some ancient paintings and many stations for lighting candles.

A walkway surrounds the cathedral and provides a lovely survey of the exterior. We also happened on the Chapter House, a large, rectangular room where a volunteer guide told us that the monks congregated here each morning for brief prayers and to discuss the operations of the monastery.

Next we walked to the end of High St. and found the Roman wall surrounding the city. Only about a quarter of the structure still exists, at least for walking, but it give a nice view of the town, including the John Dane park, a lovely place for a stroll through trees, flowers and monuments. In an interesting way, the wall divides the medieval town from the bustling traffic and commercial activities on the outside, in much the same way that the original wall protected the town from the various assaults from without.

Finally, we arrive at Canterbury castle, a very old Norman Keep, mostly in ruins, but providing some interesting views of the architecture and building methods of the day—many of which seems surprisingly sophisticated, given the available materials and intricacies of the windows, towers and other elements.
We continued to wander around the inner town for some time before settling on a restaurant for dinner—one located just beside the river than meanders through the community. The terrace at the rear was sheltered, overhead, with a trellis and grape vines, many of which had cluster of green, immature grapes dangling overhead. We enjoyed a very tasty dinner, then made our way back to the train and home to London (after 11 local stops along the way!).