Canterbury City (Kent

Apart from the 3 UNESCO Sites (Cathedral, Abbey and Church) in Canterbury, the town has quite a bit of places to see and exploration to do! I had almost half a day to explore the rest of Canterbury, esp after St.Martin’s Church flopped!).

The first place I stumbled upon, even before going to Cathedral, was Church of St.Mary Magdalene! This was also a Norman Church built in 1165. The tower that still stands was built in 1505. And it was demolished in 1871 and fell to ruins. Today it’s not under worship, but the garden around it is well maintained and is a good resting place for tourists & locals alike!

Next I did visit the Mercery Lane, which is supposedly one of the famous & most photographed streets in whole of England. It has been in existence since medieval times and still, though there are shops incl Debenhams, it still has a very old world charm. Personally I guess it is overrated, as I’ve seen similar streets, frozen in time, in Edinburgh, Bath etc as well!

My first stop after the main places was the East Bridge Hospital. This was built in 1170s by Edward FitzOdbold, a wealthy local, soon after the death of St.Thomas Becket. This was originally a place to stay and rest for the pilgrims and devotees who visited Canterbury Cathedral. This is a typical Norman architecture with pillars and arches (curved, not pointed). Since Canterbury was the place of miracles for the sick, several pilgrims who visited here were sick! So by 1400s this place was more of a hospital and care & medicines were given to them! This is in 2 floors – the crypt that was used as the dorm and the upper floor which had the chapel. Btw, it was here that I met another solo traveler, Ms.Adaeze and we hung out together for the rest of the day.

With a companion now, we walked ahead and found the Grey Frairs Chapel. This is located within the Franciscan Gardens. This is the only surviving building of the English Franciscan Friary built in 1267 CE (renovated in 1965). It is believed that this could have been a guest house. The best thing is that it is built across a tiny channel of the Great Stour river with a wooden flooring making the river visible though its gaps.

It’s supported by 2 pillars on the river with boat tours that go beneath it!!! It’s in 2 floors with a chapel in the 1st floor complete with wooden vaulted ceiling and walls, dedicated to St.Francis of Assisi!!! A room in the ground floor was, at one point of time, used as a prison, evident with the etching on the walls (remember similar in Tower of London?) & heavy iron door!

We stopped over at West Gate next and it was closed. In the middle ages, there were 6 gates on the city walls. The west gate, built in 1381, being the connection from London, was the most important. Originally this would have had a wooden gate and draw bridge with surrounding moat which are gone today.

Then we headed to Canterbury Castle. This is in complete ruins!!! The main section is a square plan and the outer wall still partially exists. At the opposite corners are staircases of which only one is accessible to reach the upper floor of the castle from where the Cathedral’s Tower was visible! The beginnings of this Castle begins with the Battle of Hastings! Soon after the conquest, William the Conqueror, ordered the building of castles in Dover, Rochester and here. The castle here was built in what’s now the Dane John gardens, out of wood. By 1086, the foundation for the present stone castle began.

By 12th C CE, this became less popular when compared to Dover Castle! Since then, this was used more like a prison. This slowly fell into disuse by 1590 and by 17th C CE, it was in ruins! In this castle are some iron pipes for plumbing and gas works! Around the castle was a fortification wall and portions of this wall still exists since Roman times (270-90 CE) - Worthgate, Riding Gate.

The Riding Gate is still used by cyclists and pedestrians and a walk on this is just awesome with the busy street on one side and the green gardens on the other! At the end of these is the Dane John Gardens (original site of castle) and I just laid down to give a rest to my spine and with the autumn leaves around me, it did make a picturesque shot!

Other places I missed: Canterbury Tales, War Memorial, Roman Museum, Heritage Museum, Royal Museum & Library (Beaney), Ghost Tour and boat ride in the river.

P.C: Pictures of me were clicked by Ms.Adaeze and pics of us together were clicked by strangers and the rest by yours truly!

P.S: Check out here to know what I wore to Canterbury!