2025.10 UK & More – Canterbury Cathedral & Abbey
Staying in Canterbury for a few days, number one on our list to visit was the Cathedral, and it was spectacular.
Wow!
Located within the pedestrian section of Canterbury is the cathedral. Entrance is between two buildings, at the Christ Church gate. Here, you can buy tickets, and also has the gift shop. Entering the grounds gives an impressive initial view of the cathedral, as you leave the historical town center, filled with narrow streets and shops, and walk out into this:
Being over a thousand years old, the cathedral is in constant need of repair and renovation. During our visit, I feel we were lucky as outside of the visible scaffolding on the exterior in the above picture, we were able to freely and easily explore the cathedral and the grounds without issue.
Once you read a map of the grounds, it becomes obvious that this truly is the head of the Anglican Communion. Being a site that relies on its own finances to run, and maintain the space, there is also a hotel on-site for visitors who want to stay within the courtyard during their visit. Below is one slideshow of some of the things outside that caught my eye:
The grounds were in excellent shape, even on a cooler October day. We walked around the exterior before going inside to the cathedral. Now a benefit to visiting in late October — there were no crowds. It was quiet, and we had time to take in the calm and beauty of the grounds, and stop to talk to just about everybody who had brought their dog with them. Little Miss had no problems making friends with all of them.
Below is another slideshow, this time from our walk around the cathedral:
inside
Once inside, the quality of the stained glass was outstanding. Given there were no crowds, we easily took our time taking in the workmanship of the windows:
Had we spent time at every stain glass window in the cathedral I think we would have been there for a day alone, if not longer. It truly amazes me the detail and precision of the craftsmanship in all the details of the building. I supposed that if everything is being handmade, your skill and style would be on display — might as well make it stand out! The ceiling for the tower was hypnotic to me, another slideshow of interior items:
In fairness to this building, we did not have an audioguide, nor a detailed map telling us of everything of importance. I would imagine either of those items would be so lengthy that a stay in their hotel would be required.
Below is another slideshow of things that attracted my attention while we walked around the cathedral:
After a visit to the gift shop our time in the cathedral was over. I struggle to find appropriate words without the assistance of a Thesaurus, the building is a masterpiece of centuries of handmade craftsmanship. I felt that no detail was not too small to spend time admiring and appreciating it. At one point, when I was outside a volunteer approached me because I was trying to find a pattern to the crests that were on the points of the arches of the covered walkway. She remarked “Well, there’s an example of fundraising from [I cannot recall which century]. As each family donated towards the construction of this area, their family crest was added to note their financial contributions. As you can tell, there is no pattern as they were added as donations were received and construction occurred.”
Nearby, is another historic site, St. Augustine’s Abbey.
St Augustine’s Abbey
Unlike the Cathedral, the abbey has not survived the test of time. Instead it’s an open ruin area, filled with placards to help illustrate what the site and location was like when it was in operation hundreds of years ago.
Our timing of visiting wasn’t the best — it was an October day, that went from full sun, to overcast, to downpour of rain all within minutes. Even with an umbrella and jacket on, it wasn’t the best time to be outside exploring the ruins of this abbey. Below are some more pictures from our walk around it:
Inside, the museum was helpful to provide context on the Abbey and historical significance of it. Being an English Heritage site, it was a step towards maximizing our membership that we had purchased at Dover Castle.
From here it was time to head to northwest of London for a wedding of one of Little Miss’ cousins.
Explore other parts of this trip:
Part 1 – Air Canada Flight Toronto to Halifax, to London
Part 2 – Hilton Garden Inn, Heathrow
Part 4 – Best Western Abbots Barton Hotel, Canterbury
Part 6 – Canterbury Cathedral & Augustine Abbey (this post!)
Part 7 – Hilton Garden Inn, Silverstone
Part 8 – Hardwick Hall
Part 9 – Newcastle Upon Tyne Doubletree Hotel
Part 10 – Alnwick Gardens & Corbridge Roman Town
Part 11 – Premier Inn Penrith
Part 12 – Castlerigg Stone Circle & Lake District
Part 13 – Hilton Garden Inn Manchester
Part 14 – Isle of Wight
Part 15 – Carisbrooke Castle
Part 16 – Osborne
Part 17 – Heathrow Terminal 4 Hilton
Part 18 – Flight to Amsterdam, Hilton Dusseldorf
Part 19 – Doubletree NDSW Amsterdam
Part 20 – Mauritshuis, The Hague
Part 21 – Hilton AMS
Part 22 – Flight home via Newark