Our Canterbury Tale

The Stover Jr. family recently took a trip to Canterbury, UK over reading week (a week off from school, like spring break).  We spent 2 nights there and saw much of the city.  Canterbury is the setting of Chaucer's 14th Century collection of stories, The Canterbury Tales. This was one of the first books ever published in English.  It describes the pilgrimage many people made from London to Canterbury to visit the shrine of a famous Archbishop, after he was murdered in the Canterbury Cathedral in the 1170.

So, of course, we had to visit the Canterbury Cathedral.  It is a beautiful Gothic cathedral, much like Westminster in London, and is a World Heritage Site.  It is also the symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican church and home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the principal leader of the Church of England.  We even got to attend a short service of Evensong while there and it was a very lovely and powerful service.  Fun fact: Canterbury was where Christianity was first brought to England!

The Canterbury Cathedral

A selfie in front of the Cathedral

A street in downtown Canterbury, with the cathedral in the background

Since we considered this little trip our Valentine's Day gift to each other we decided to have a fancy dinner out while in Canterbury (this is a big deal for us, since we don't have a lot of money right now, and usually just purchase cheap food...) So we found this nice little restaurant on the river called 'The Old Weaver's House' and had a lovely dinner in a charming historic building.

The quaint restaurant where we had 'Valentine's Dinner'

Canterbury is a rather small town, with cute little boutique shops up and down the main streets.  It is easy to walk through the whole town in a matter of hours, perusing the little shops and historic buildings.  There are also a few museums to check out, such as the Canterbury Roman museum which gives you a look into what the city was like in the Roman period.  The Beany House of Art and Knowledge was another museum we visited, which houses random artifacts and collections from around the world.  Here you can see Emily playing with some dolls, really she just needed a break from walking around!

Emily playing with dolls

Then there are the historic gems that we found in the town - like the ruins of an old castle and the Westgate into the city, which is the largest surviving city gate in England, built around 1379.  While wandering through the streets we ran across this out-of-the-way path that lead to a pretty park. We also walked through an old hospital, but not in the sense that we use the word.  It was actually a place of hospitality for pilgrims to who were coming to Canterbury to visit the cathedral in the 12th Century.  We don't have any good pictures of that, but it was an interesting visit.

Ruins of the Canterbury Castle from 1066

The Westgate into the city

A river running through town

The 'out-of-the-way path' we stumbled upon

While we had a lovely time in Canterbury, it is a place you can see in only one or two days.  It is a quaint little town, that is easily walkable, with many historic buildings and stories.  A worthwhile weekend trip from London!