Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
file which includes the original lovely illustrations.
See 13890-h.htm or 13890-h.zip:
(https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/8/9/13890/13890-h/13890-h.htm)
or
(https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/3/8/9/13890/13890-h.zip)
BEAUTIFUL BRITAIN
Canterbury
by
GORDON HOME
MCMXI
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
"When that Aprillé with his showerés soote [= sweet]
The drought of March hath piercéd to the roote,
* * * * *
"Then longen folk to go on pilgrimages,
And palmers for to seeken strangé strands,
To ferme [=ancient] halwes [=shrines] knowthe [=known] in sundry lands
And specially from every shirés end
Of Engéland, to Canterbury they wend,
The holy, blissful martyr for to seek
That them hath holpen when that they were sick."
CHAUCER: _Canterbury Tales_.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I. THE PILGRIM'S APPROACH TO THE CITY
II. THE STORY OF CANTERBURY
III. THE CATHEDRAL
IV. THE CITY
INDEX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PLATE
1. THE NAVE OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL (Frontispiece)
2. CHRIST CHURCH GATE
3. THE CATHEDRAL FROM NORTH-WEST
4. THE "ANGEL" OR "BELL HARRY" TOWER AND THE LAVATORY TOWER OF THE
CATHEDRAL
5. THE CHAPEL OF "OUR LADY" IN THE UNDERCROFT OF THE CATHEDRAL
6. THE WARRIOR'S CHAPEL
7. THE MARTYRDOM IN THE NORTH-WEST TRANSEPT
8. THE DOORWAY FROM THE CLOISTERS TO THE MARTYRDOM
9. THE GREYFRIARS' HOUSE IN CANTERBURY
10. THE HOUSE OF THE CANTERBURY WEAVERS
11. WESTGATE CANTERBURY FROM WITHIN
12. THE NORMAN STAIRCASE TO THE KING'S SCHOOL (On the cover)
[Illustration: PLAN OF CANTERBURY, SHOWING THE CHIEF STREETS AND THE
MOST INTERESTING BUILDINGS.
REFERENCE
A. Mercery Lane.
B. St. Peter's Church.
C. All Saints' Church.
D. St. Margaret's Church.
E. Poor Priests' Hospital.
F. St. Margarets Street.
G. Green Court.
H. Archbishops' Palace.
J. Norman Staircase.
K. St. George's Church.
L. Site Of Roman Gate.
M. Greyfriars.
N. Christ Church Gate.
O. St. Alphege's Church.
P. St. Mary Bredin Church]
CHAPTER I
THE PILGRIM'S APPROACH TO THE CITY
It was on April 24, 1538, that a writ of summons was sent forth in the
name of Henry VIII., "To thee, Thomas Becket, some time Archbishop of
Canterbury"--who had then been dead for 368 years--"to appear within
thirty days to answer to a charge of treason, contumacy, and rebellion
against his sovereign lord, King Henry II." But the days passed, and no
spirit having stirred the venerated bones of the wonder-working saint,
on June 10 judgment was given in favour of Henry, and it was decreed
that the Archbishop's bones were to be burnt, and his world-famous
shrine overlaid with gold and sparkling with jewels was to be
forfeited to the Crown. Further than this went the sentence, for
Thomas of Canterbury was to be a saint no longer, and his name and
memory were to be wiped out. The remains were not burned, but
throughout the land every statue, wall-painting, and window to the
said Thomas Becket was rigorously searched out and destroyed, and from
every record his name was carefully erased. And so it came about that
the year 1538 saw the last pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Thomas the
Martyr.
A growing incredulity had prepared the way for this wave of
iconoclasm, and the shrine once destroyed ended for ever this first
phase of the Canterbury pilgrimages. It might have been truly thought,
if anyone ever gave a moment to such speculations a century ago, when
Englishmen cared little for the landmarks of their island story, that
the last pilgrim who would ever wend his way along the old road to
Canterbury had died in the sixteenth century, and yet how profoundly
untrue would that impression have been in the light of the new
enthusiasm for the site of the shrine! A considerable literature on
the Pilgrims' Way from Winchester has already sprung up, and this
little book is itself a souvenir for the pilgrim to carry away as
evidence of the journey he has made, provided he cares to write
inside the cover his name, the date of his visit, and the two words
"at Canterbury."
Now, I do not disguise the fact that many of the twentieth-century
pilgrims are not possessed of the true spirit of the devotee, and
instead of approaching the object of their journey by the old-time
way, along the beautiful hills of Surrey and Kent, they use the iron
road which rushes them all unprepared into the city of the
saint-martyr. But who will maintain that all those who formed the
motley throng of the medieval pilgrimages came with their minds
properly attuned, and who is prepared to say that because the majority
of modern pilgrims consummate their aim by using the convenience of
the railway they are less devout than Chaucer's merchant,
serjeant-at-law, doctor of physic, and the rest who rode on
horseback--the most convenient, rapid, and comfortable method of
travel then available?
There is, however, a material disadvantage suffered by those who use
the railway, in that they miss the first view of the Cathedral city
set in the midst of soft-swelling eocene hills, which comes as the
first stage of the gradual unfolding of the tragic story. The
lukewarm pilgrim should therefore remember that he will add vastly to
the richness of his impressions if he deserts his train at Selling or
Chartham and walks the rest of the way over Harbledown, where he will
see the little city of the Middle Ages encircled with its ancient wall
and crowned by the towers of its cathedral very much as did the
cosmopolitan groups of travel-soiled men and women who for century
after century feasted their eyes from the selfsame spot.
[Illustration: CHRIST CHURCH GATEWAY, CANTERBURY.
This beautiful entrance to the Cathedral precincts was built between
1507 and 1517. The richly sculptured stone has weathered exceedingly.]