Events > Past
14th June 2008 - Visit to Canterbury
On a fine June day, 22 members of the Society made their way as
modern pilgrims to Canterbury Cathedral. St Augustine, the first
Archbishop of Canterbury, arrived on the coast of Kent as a missionary
to England in 597 AD and he built a cathedral on the site. Augustine's
original building lies beneath the floor of the nave – it was
extensively rebuilt and enlarged by the Saxons, and was rebuilt
completely by the Normans in 1070 following a major fire. There have
been many additions to the building over the last nine hundred years,
but parts of the quire and some of the windows and their stained glass
date from the 12th century. By 1077, Archbishop Lanfranc had rebuilt it
as a Norman church, described as "nearly perfect, with stone imported
from Caen. The architecture varies from Romanesque to Gothic
Perpendicular with the largest quire in England, which was extended and
rebuilt by Archbishop Anselm. 
The gruesome murder of Beckett was told in
historical detail although nothing remains now of his magnificent shrine
which once drew thousands in pilgrimage. A few medieval stained glass
windows survive, protected from the elements.
Following a fascinating tour, members joined in the celebration of Mass in the East Crypt at which Father Nicholas Kavanagh from St James, Spanish Place officiated. The collection was donated to the Cathedral. The day concluded with luncheon at the Cathedral Lodge, which is a new building in the precincts.