St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, England

St. Augustine's Abbey is located just outside the walls of Canterbury. It is one of the oldest monastic sites in England, founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury. He was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to reintroduce Catholicism in southern England (it had made some inroads before the Romans left). Augustine founded the monastery in 598. It became a great center of learning. After the Normans took over in 1066, the abbey was transformed into a typical Benedictine Abbey. Around this time, the abbey became known as St. Augustine's Abbey (you don't think he named it after himself, do you?). In 1538, the abbey was taken over by King Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. He turned into a royal palace in preparation for the arrival of wife number four, Anne of Cleves. The abbey saw little royal use after Henry VIII. It was rented out to noble families and slowly sold off over the years. By the mid-1800s interest grew in restoring the site. St. Augustine's College was built on the land, later becoming King's School. The surrounding land was slowly acquired through the 1900s and now English Heritage manages the site.

St. Augustine's Abbey

The entrance goes through a small museum with a collection of decorative bits found by archeologists.

Statue and gargoyles

More statues and a cross

Heads from statues

The museum displays also explain life for people who lived here throughout the ages.

Medieval garb

The abbey grounds are a mixture of the two abbeys (the original Saxon monastery and the Norman abbey) with a sprinkling of the royal palace. The north wall of the church's nave still stands. The base is from the Norman abbey but the brick top is from the royal palace.

Nave north wall

The nave

Adjoining the north nave wall is the remains of Ethelbert's Tower, one of the main towers of the church.

Ethelbert's Tower ruins

Beyond the nave is the Crypt area, which served as the foundation for the central tower.

Crypt

By the crypt several graves are marked off. In addition to the abbots who were buried here, many of the local kings were also buried at the abbey.

Graves

Graves of Anglo-Saxon kings of Kent

The base of a staircase shows where monks would go up the tower.

Stairs

The crypt itself is accessible and contains some interesting floor tiles and the Chapel of St. Mary and the Angels, one of the earliest bits of the site.

More of the crypt

Floor tiles

Chapel of St. Mary and the Angels

View from the chapel

A side chapel in the crypt was dedicated to St. Thomas and the altar is still in reasonable shape.

Altar of St. Thomas

To the north of the church is where the cloister and various domestic buildings of the monastery were located. The cloister was a small square green surrounded by a covered walkway. The walkway provided access to the various rooms of the monastery, such as the refectory (where the monks ate) and the chapter house (where the monks met for daily instruction, including the reading of a chapter from St. Benedict's Rule (hence the name "Chapter" house)).

Cloister area

King's School

Norman doorway

Beyond the monastery on the east end of the grounds is St. Pancras's Chapel, one of the Anglo-Saxon churches that was not integrated into the larger monastic church. The Normans used it as a cemetery chapel.

St. Pancras's Chapel

Next to the chapel is a small mound that was probably the location of the Abbey's bell tower or campanile.

Campanile Mound

The abbey is a fascinating place to visit and well worth the trip.

Abbey with Canterbury Cathedral tower in the distance

Canterbury Cathedral, England

Canterbury Cathedral is one of the oldest churches in England. It was the seat of the original archbishop of England, St. Augustine of Canterbury., who came to England in 597. The church was rebuilt in 1070 after the Norman Conquest. One hundred years later Thomas a Becket was murdered in the cathedral. His shrine became a popular pilgrimage destination, as commemorated in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in 1387. With the Dissolution of the Monasteries that all changed. It is still used as a church and the archbishop of Canterbury is still the top prelate in the Church of England.

The exterior has the exquisite detail of the classic Gothic churches.

Canterbury Cathedral

Entrance

Queen Bertha

Inside, the nave is 188 feet long, making it one of the longest medieval churches in Europe.

The nave

Ceiling decoration

The baptismal font also impressed me with its wonderful cover and the black and white marble of the base.

Pascal candle and baptismal font

Cover of the font

The font itself

The pulpit and the rood screen (separating the nave from the sanctuary) are also impressively decorated.

The pulpit

Massive rood screen

To the left of the rood screen is an altar where the death of Thomas a Becket occurred. He was archbishop of Canterbury under King Henry II. Becket was the king's pal but when he was appointed archbishop he had a change of heart. He switched from being a champion for the king to a champion for the King of kings. Their conflict eventually led to Henry saying in front of some of his knights, "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?" The knights took it as a hint, went to Canterbury and killed Becket inside the church.

Becket martyrdom altar

Further back in the cathedral is Trinity Chapel where Becket's tomb was built in 1220. With the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, his tomb was destroyed. A candle now commemorates the spot where the tomb stood for centuries.

Candle where Becket's tomb once stood

Statue of Thomas a Becket

View from the candle back down the nave

Trinity Chapel also has many tombs, the most significant being the Black Prince's Tomb where the son of King Edward III was buried in 1376.

Highly decorated tomb

Detail of the tomb

Tomb of Henry IV and wife

Black Prince's Tomb

Bronze effigy of the Black Prince

Other tombs are scattered around the cathedral.

Tomb of Thomas Neville

War Memorial

Regiment chapel

One specific decoration is the Compass Rose. Canon Edward West from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York had the idea of using the compass rose as a symbol of the Anglican movement, so it appears in many Anglican churches worldwide.

The Compass Rose

A painting from 1480 shows the life of the second century saint named Eustace, from his early conversion (he had a vision of Christ crucified while looking at a stag's antlers) to his martyrdom.

Legend of St. Eustace

The church has a cloister with a fine Chapter House connected to it.

Cathedral cloister

Chapter house

Detail of the ceiling

Stained glass window in the front of the chapter house (click to enlarge)

Stained glass window in the back of the chapter house (click to enlarge)

View of the cathedral from the chapter house

 The cathedral also has a crypt chapel with some nice stained glass. This is where Becket was buried from his death till 1220, when his remains were moved up to Trinity Chapel.

Crypt chapel

King David and Nathan

I also found a nice relief of the Annunciation.

Annunciation

The cathedral is still a worthy destination for pilgrims or tourists. There's plenty of faith and history there.