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Canterbury Cathedral
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CANTERBURY
IF THERE IS ANY CITY IN KENT THAT IS AS FULL OF HISTORY , HERITAGE AND BEAUTIFUL BUILDINGS AS CANTERBURY IT WOULD BE HARD TO NAME IT . CANTERBURY , THE SEAT OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND , THE PLACE WHERE PILGRIMS FLOCKED ( AND MODERN DAY VISITORS STILL DO ) IS A REMARKABLE AND UNIQUE PLACE TO BE . BY LISAMARIE LAMB
HISTORY IN BRIEF
Canterbury was originally ( in the first century AD ) an Iron Age settlement . Even back then it was considered special . It was an incredibly important place for the Cantiaci , the local Celtic tribe , to meet and live . It wasn ’ t long before the Romans invaded Britain , and they immediately seized on Canterbury as being the perfect place to start building . Starting in 43AD , the Romans razed the Cantiaci ’ s primitive dwellings and created their own , much more sophisticated buildings . In honour of the first people to live there , the Romans named the place Durovernum Cantiacorum . And so Canterbury began to grow .
Canterbury was all but abandoned by 407AD . All that was left were a few farmers , and many of the buildings were left to fall into ruin . This may have continued but for the fact that Pope Gregory sent Augustine and a contingent of 40 monks to Britain in 597AD . He was to meet with the king of Kent , Ethelbert , and begin attempting to convert the nation to Christianity . Since Augustine landed on the Kent coast , in Thanet , Canterbury was a good place for him to begin his monumental mission . As soon as he chose Canterbury , it began to thrive again . People moved there to be closer to the action , and tradesmen and craftsmen came to be part of the rebuilding of what would be the county ’ s capital . Soon there were homes , inns , shops and more – including a mint .
Since then ( despite being raided by both the Danes and the Normans , and despite Henry VIII taking a dislike to the monasteries ) Canterbury has gone from strength to strength , growing more and more fascinating as the years go by .
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