Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral, one of the oldest and most historic Christian structures in England, mother church of the Anglican Communion, and seat of the archbishop of Canterbury. Originally established by St. Augustine, the church is located in Canterbury, Kent, England.

Founding by St. Augustine

In 597 Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory the Great to Cantwarabyrig, in Kent, one of the seven kingdoms of England during the Heptarchy (end of the 5th century ce to the second half of the 9th century). He was welcomed by the king, Aethelberht I, whose wife, Queen Bertha, was already a Christian. Augustine used her private chapel, which had once been a Roman building of unknown purpose (now St. Martin’s Church), as his mission headquarters. He expanded the chapel as his congregation grew. Augustine also founded a Benedictine abbey (now the Abbey of St. Augustine), whose ruins have survived, and, having been named “bishop of the English,” he built the church that became Canterbury Cathedral; it was originally called Christ Church.

The Romanesque cathedral

Christ Church was damaged by Danish raids in 1011 and nearly destroyed by fire in 1067. The Norman archbishop Lanfranc rebuilt the church between 1070 and 1077 in the Romanesque style.

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The murder of Thomas Becket

Archbishops of Canterbury have played important roles in English politics. One key figure was Thomas Becket, the archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170. He quarreled with King Henry II of England over the rights and privileges of the Roman Catholic Church, such as clerical immunity from lay tribunals and the king’s demands outlined in the Constitutions of Clarendon (16 articles issued in January 1164 by Henry that defined church-state relations in England). Some violent words of Henry’s about Becket were taken literally by four leading knights of the court, and they murdered the archbishop on December 29, 1170. Within a few days his tomb became a pilgrimage site, and English and foreign pilgrims came in numbers, substantially increasing both the prestige and the income of the cathedral. Becket was canonized by Pope Alexander III in 1173.

Later history

In the 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer wrote about Becket as the “blisful martir” in The Canterbury Tales after having visited the city. His sojourn coincided with a major redevelopment of the cathedral in the Perpendicular, or late Gothic, style. Carried out between 1391 and 1498, the renovations included the rebuilding of the Lanfranc nave and the construction of the immense central tower, Bell Harry, where the Perpendicular style is most apparent in the fan vaulting. St. Thomas’s shrine behind the high altar was destroyed on the orders of Henry VIII in 1538, and the monastery was dissolved in 1540.

In the 17th century the interior of Canterbury Cathedral was damaged during the English Civil Wars and subsequently repaired. The northwest tower was rebuilt in the 19th century, giving Canterbury Cathedral its current silhouette. During World War II, Canterbury was one of the five towns targeted by the Luftwaffe, the German air force, in the Baedeker raids (1942). The attacks on Canterbury killed some 40 civilians and destroyed a number of buildings, but the cathedral was largely spared.

In the 21st century

Canterbury Cathedral is not only a historic monument; it remains a working church in the 21st century with daily worship services. As the mother church of the Anglican Communion, it is the symbolic center of that global community, anchoring liturgical identity and historical continuity. As the seat of the archbishop of Canterbury, it is the official episcopal home of this senior bishop, from which the archbishop exercises pastoral, spiritual, and ecumenical responsibilities. Among the more influential archbishops of Canterbury is Sarah Mullally, who, in 2026, became the first woman to lead the Church of England.

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In addition to religious services, Canterbury Cathedral also offers resources for research, featuring an archive and library whose collection dates back to the 8th century as well as educational and cultural programming to broaden the cathedral’s relevance beyond religious communities. Indeed, the art installation Hear Us, featuring questions to God written in graffiti and temporarily attached to parts of the cathedral and the crypt, divided the public when it went on display in 2025. After U.S. Vice Pres. J.D. Vance called the graffiti “ugly,” Jacqueline Creswell, the curator who collaborated on the project with poet Alex Vellis, told the BBC that she was “rather delighted” that the busy politician “took the time out to research the exhibition and to review it.”

Points of interest

The route taken by pilgrims during the Middle Ages to the cathedral runs along the High Street and Mercery Lane to the splendid 16th-century Christ Church Gate. The cathedral itself has many beautiful stained glass windows, some dating as far back as the 12th century. Other points of interest include the site of Becket’s murder in the northwest transept, the crypt where Henry II did penance for the murder, and the tombs of Edward the Black Prince, the son and heir apparent of Edward III of England and one of the outstanding commanders during the Hundred Years’ War (14th–15th century); of Henry IV, the only king of England buried at the cathedral; and of his wife, Queen Joan of Navarre. In 1988 UNESCO inscribed the cathedral, together with St. Augustine’s Abbey and St. Martin’s Church, as a World Heritage site.