TOP 10 CANTERBURY

This beautiful city of narrow medieval alleys and soaring spires is a key player in Britain’s history

- MONICA WOODS

Home to one of England’s oldest and most renowned cathedrals and a key player in the country’s history, contemporary Canterbury draws in crowds to match the flocks of pilgrims of yesteryear. But the city wears its historical heavyweight status lightly. A wander round this medieval web of alleys, lopsided Tudor buildings and riverside gardens, encircled by ancient city walls, represents a very agreeable form of time travel. As you tread the lively cobbled streets, you’ll be conscious of retracing past pilgrims’ footsteps, notably the rambunctious lot depicted in Geoffrey Chaucer’s late 14th-century Canterbury Tales.

Millions used to journey across late medieval Europe to visit the shrine of Archbishop Thomas Becket, assassinated within his own cathedral in 1170 on the apparent orders of King Henry II, following a long dispute between Crown and Church. A striking modern sculpture now marks the spot, known simply as The Martydom, where Becket met his grisly end. Scenes from his life, and miracles the saint was said to have performed (he was canonised in 1173), are shown in exquisite stained glass in the Trinity Chapel, and the cathedral is crammed with other notable monuments and tombs.

A series of events to commemorate Becket’s life and legacy was planned for 2020, 850 years after his death and 800 years since his remains were moved from the crypt to a resplendent shrine in the cathedral. With restrictions in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, many of these have had to be postponed. As the cathedral instigates a phased reopening, the hope is that the commemorations can be rescheduled.