This is a lavishly illustrated history of Britain's greatest cathedral from its Anglo-Saxon origins to the late twentieth century. Seven chronological chapters tell the fascinating story of Canterbury from 597, while a further five thematic chapters discuss the Cathedral School, the Archives and Library, the liturgy and music, and the monuments within the Cathedral. The contributors are all leading scholars and their chapters are based on the most up-to-date research. Their emphasis is on the people who, over the centuries, have formed the community of Canterbury and continued the tradition of Christian worship there for over a thousand years. A History of Canterbury Cathedral will be essential for readers with an interest in the Cathedral, as well as for scholars and students of cultural, religious, ecclesiastical, and architectural history.

First Published in 1981 The Architectural History of Canterbury Cathedral traces the entire architectural history of the church from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day. Every major epoch of English architecture is represented, from the Norman Conquest to the splendours of the Tudor age. One of the main concerns has been a reconstruction of the two Norman phases – Lanfranc’s cathedral from 1070 and the great choir of St Anselm begun in 1096. Dr Woodman puts forward new and provocative ideas about the architecture of William of Sens and his original proposals for the new Gothic choir and Trinity Chapel. The Perpendicular phases are detailed for the first time, including an important reattribution and redating of the splendid pulpitum. It analyses for the first time the precise areas of building completed by individual master masons, and he discusses details revealed by archaeological excavations and restoration work that are no longer visible. This stimulating study is a must read for scholars and researchers of British architecture, architectural history and architecture in general.

Canterbury Cathedral possesses a unique marble mosaic pavement, dating from the early twelfth century, which has long intrigued scholars and been the subject of speculation and debate. It forms part of the floor of the Trinity chapel, adjacent to the site where the shrine of St Thomas Becket stood, prior to the Reformation. Since the mosaic is older than the chapel itself and partly destroyed a pavement of figurative roundels, laid c. 1215, it must have been moved here from elsewhere in the cathedral. This volume explores the history and archaeology of the Trinity chapel, the pavement and the physical remains of the cult of Becket, based largely on hitherto unrecorded and unpublished evidence. In the early twelfth century, Archbishop Anselm rebuilt the eastern arm of the cathedral, introducing architectural elements from his native Italy, and these included a magnificent mosaic pavement, composed of the most expensive marbles, which lay in front of the high altar. In 1170, Archbishop Becket was murdered in the cathedral, and his body rested overnight on the pavement before being buried in the crypt. Thomas was immediately revered as a martyr, and in 1173 was canonized by the pope; a simple shrine was erected over his tomb. In the following year, a fire (arson) destroyed the eastern arm of the cathedral, precipitating the construction of the present Trinity and Corona chapels, wherein St Thomas’s remains were enshrined. After decades of delay and political strife, the enshrinement took place in 1220, in the presence of Henry III. The shrine comprised a great marble table, supported on six clusters of columns. On top of the table was a marble sarcophagus containing the saint’s body in an iron-bound timber coffin, over which stood the sumptuous feretory, a gabled timber ‘roof’, plated with sheets of gold and adorned with jewels. East of the shrine lies the small Corona chapel in which a fragment of Becket’s skull was separately encased in a ‘head-shrine’, and to the west a large area was paved with forty-eight figurative stone roundels, created by French artisans. All around, stained-glass windows display the early miracles of Becket. The layout of the Trinity chapel underwent transmutations, first around 1230, when the mosaic pavement was taken up from the old presbytery, reduced in size and relaid in front of Becket’s shrine, where is it today. Second, the chapel was reordered in c. 1290, when the podium carrying the shrine was enlarged and the paving around it reconfigured. Medieval tombs were now being installed in the chapels, including those of the Black Prince and Henry IV. The end came in 1538, when Henry VIII ordered the thorough destruction of Becket’s shrines, but a great deal of archaeological evidence remained in the floors, walls and a few surviving fragments of the shrines, all now recorded and discussed in this volume for the first time.

Beginning with Bede the Venerable’s account of its remarkable founding by St. Augustine, Canterbury Cathedral has long been thought of as one of the greatest literary centers of the Middle Ages. For the first time, The Earliest Books of Canterbury Cathedral presents the entirety of Canterbury’s pre-thirteenth-century volumes—illustrated in full color—including the Alfredian translation of Gregory the Great’s Dialogues, Lanfranc’s gloss on the Epistles, and an extraordinarily grand copy of Peter Comestor’s Historia scholastica. Each manuscript is accompanied by a clear description and a broad-ranging analysis that not only explains the significance of the work in general, but of the Canterbury copy in particular—benefiting scholars of literary and archival history alike. A substantial introduction on the history of book production in Kent and Canterbury prior to the thirteenth century contextualizes the collection as whole and offers information on its development and use in the later Middle Ages, as well as the fate of its books during the course of the Reformation.