Tag: kent

We went to Dover Castle … sort of.

On Friday, I arrived in Canterbury. I emailed my family a photo of Nana and I together, letting them know I’d arrived safely. Everyone responded quickly with well wishes, and suggestions for all the things I should do while there (context: this is the third year that Nana Ev has come to stay in Canterbury for several weeks. Both my aunt and my parents have previously visited during this trip).

On Saturday, Nana Ev and I FaceTimed with my parents and Kristopher. On Sunday we FaceTimed with my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Joe.

On both calls, we were asked a variation of this question: “so, have you done [insert activity] yet?” “did you go [insert location] here yet”.

Nana and I could not stop laughing. These questions were hilariously ill-timed, considering I’d barely just arrived.

In their enthusiasm about the many things to do in Canterbury, my Dad absolutely insisted that we must go to Dover Castle. We hadn’t initially planned to do this, because it was a bit more complicated to get to Dover without a car, but since my Dad insisted it was such a must-do activity, we figured out how to take the bus there.

So, this morning we got up bright and early. We got on the bus, and headed for Dover Castle, a lovely 40 minute ride away.

Quick facts on Dover Castle, courtesy of my fave, Wikipedia:

Dover Castle is a medieval castle in Dover, Kent. It was founded in the 12th century and has been described as the “Key to England” due to its defensive significance throughout history. It is the largest castle in England.

The site may have been fortified with earthworks in the Iron Age or earlier, before the Romans invaded in AD43. This is suggested on the basis of the unusual pattern of the earthworks which does not seem to be a perfect fit for the medieval castle. Excavations have provided evidence of Iron Age occupation within the locality of the castle, but it is not certain whether this is associated with the hillfort. There have also been excavations on the mound which the church and Roman Pharos are situated on, which has been discovered to be a Bronze Age mound.

Our bus driver let us know when to get off the bus, and told us we had to walk a bit down the hill to get to the entrance (Keep in mind that Dover Castle sits atop a massive hill, which is why we were skeptical of making this trip sans car). Needless to say, when the bus driver said that the return bus stop was further up the hill, while the entrance to the castle was further down, we weren’t impressed.

Thus, we walked down the hill, only to find another hill we needed to walk up in order to reach the castle. As we approached the gate, I began to question our decisions. The gate looked closed. I thought perhaps I wasn’t seeing things right, until I was standing in front of the locked gate, looking at a ticket booth that was very much closed.

Well, shit. Now what? We sure didn’t see this coming. We also weren’t sure if the Castle was closed, or if just that particular entrance. We decided to walk further down the hill to reach the car entrance, hoping that might be open. Turns out, it wasn’t. The “Closed” sign was well visible from across the street.

Not wanting to walk back up that darn hill, we continued to walk down. Eventually we were back in the lovely town of Dover. Also, we had no real idea where we were going, other than knowing we needed to get back on a bus. After asking a couple of people for directions (all of whom confirmed that it was unusual for the castle to be closed), we eventually found a bus stop. When we asked the bus driver if his particular bus would take us to the main station, he told us that it would, but so would a 5 minute walk through the park behind us. Obviously, we opted for the latter.

Another 10 minutes of waiting, and we were back on the bus to Canterbury! As soon as we were in wifi range, we looked up Dover Castle’s hour. Indeed, it is only open on the weekends this month. Truly bizarre, because the sign on site said otherwise.

Anyways, here are the pictures we took on our adventure to see Dover Castle. We did the Castle, though we didn’t get inside. Consider it the unsuccessful invaders’ version of the tour. Tres vintage.

The view of Dover Castle, after we walked to the bus station

Dover Castle #Selfie

See that castle? We were there. We walked to here.

The town of Dover

loved this sign. colour tv!

phone booth #selfie (our selfie game is getting good, non?)

CLOSED!

We were right there!

So close! Ticket booth closed!

SO CLOSE!

uh, ya, this is one of the smaller hills we tackled today

LOCKED OUT!

March 12, 2015
Roman Ruins in Canterbury

Did you know that the romans used to have a giant empire? And did you know that it included a sizeable chunk of the present-day UK? Here’s a map:

The earliest history of Canterbury actually goes back even further than the Romans, but they seem to have left the largest footprint. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it:

The Canterbury area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Lower Paleolithic axes, and Neolithic and Bronze Age pots have been found in the area. Canterbury was first recorded as the main settlement of the Celtic tribe of the Cantiaci, which inhabited most of modern day Kent. In the 1st century AD, the Romans captured the settlement and named it Durovernum Cantiacorum. The Romans rebuilt the city, with new streets in a grid pattern, a theatre, a temple, a forum, and public baths. In the late 3rd century, to defend against attack from barbarians, the Romans built an earth bank around the city and a wall with seven gates, which enclosed an area of 130 acres (53 ha).

Despite being counted as one of the 28 cities of Sub-Roman Britain, it seems that after the Romans left Britain in 410 Durovernum Cantiacorum was abandoned except by a few farmers and gradually decayed.^[12] Over the next 100 years, an Anglo-Saxon community formed within the city walls, as Jutish refugees arrived, possibly intermarrying with the locals.^[13] In 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent Augustine to convert its King Æthelberht to Christianity. After the conversion, Canterbury, being a Roman town, was chosen by Augustine as the centre for his episcopal see in Kent, and an abbey and cathedral were built. Augustine thus became the first Archbishop of Canterbury.^[14] The town’s new importance led to its revival, and trades developed in pottery, textiles, and leather. By 630, gold coins were being struck at the Canterbury mint. In 672, the Synod of Hertford gave the see of Canterbury authority over the entire English Church.

In 842 and 851, Canterbury suffered great loss of life during Danish raids. In 978, Archbishop Dunstan refounded the abbey built by Augustine, and named it St Augustine’s Abbey. A second wave of Danish attacks began in 991, and in 1011 the cathedral was burnt and Archbishop Alphege was killed in 1012. Remembering the destruction caused by the Danes, the inhabitants of Canterbury did not resist William the Conqueror’s invasion in 1066.

So, things and buildings in Britain are super old. However, once in awhile, modern people try to do some remodeling of one of these 500+ year old buildings. When they do, they have to dig. And sometimes they find the remnants of buildings and places that were built by Romans, 800+ years ago. So, ya, that’s pretty wild.

And so, because it’s usually better to remember history than just build parkings lots and condos over top of it (I’m looking at you, Toronto), there are a couple of places in Canterbury where you can see the discovered ruins of Roman civilization. In one case, there’s an entire museum about Roman history in Canterbury. In another location, a section of ruins is preserved in a glassed-in room in the basement of a bookstore.

Nana Ev and I went to see both!

The bookstore was cool in a this-is-neat-to-see kind of way, but the museum found and preserved a fairly significant portion of a Roman bath, including a long hallway and the pipes that heated the baths, various floors, and walls.

There’s not much to be said, so I’ll get out of your way and you can look at the pictures. The museum also showcased a ton of artifacts, including jewellery, glass jugs, and bowls. Enjoy!

tiles from a roman settlement

a glass bottle from Roman times

Roman jewellery

Roman ruins in the Waterstone’s bookstore

Roman ruins in the Waterstone’s bookstore

Roman ruins in the Waterstone’s bookstore

Roman ruins in the Waterstone’s bookstore

Roman ruins in the Waterstone’s bookstore

a map of the Roman settlement at Canterbury

Beneath the baths, this is where the water was warmed

This is a Roman hallway – the floor is warped from the ground shifting over hundreds of years

March 12, 2015
Exploring Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral is arguably the most famous thing in Canterbury. When Nana Ev and I sit in her apartment and drink tea in the afternoon and the evening (that’s in addition to the tea we have in a local cafe – this is Britain, people!), we can see the cathedral as it towards above the surrounding buildings. When we go outside in the morning, it’s the first thing we see, as it’s approximately 20 metres away from Nana’s front door.

So, of course, visiting the Cathedral was a must-do for my trip. And so we went to Canterbury Cathedral. Not once, but twice!

First, here’s some interesting historical background on Canterbury Cathedral, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion …

Founded in 597, the cathedral was completely rebuilt from 1070 to 1077. The east end was greatly enlarged at the beginning of the twelfth century, and largely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in 1174, with significant eastward extensions to accommodate the flow of pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket, the archbishop who was murdered in the cathedral in 1170. The Norman nave and transepts survived until the late fourteenth century, when they were demolished to make way for the present structures.

As with most of Europe, stuff here is crazy amounts of old. How old? Sold old that it has a history dating back to the Roman presence in Britain. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about the various occupants/builders of the cathedral:

Roman

Christianity had started to become powerful in the Roman Empire around the third century, particularly after Augustine of Hippo converted to the religion in the 4th century. The cathedral’s first archbishop was Augustine of Canterbury, previously abbot of St. Andrew’s Benedictine Abbey in Rome. He was sent by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 as a missionary to the Anglo-Saxons. Augustine founded the cathedral in 597 and dedicated it to Jesus Christ, the Holy Saviour.

Anglo-Saxon

[The historian] Bede recorded that Augustine reused a former Roman church. The oldest remains found during excavations beneath the present nave in 1993 were, however, parts of the foundations of an Anglo-Saxon building, which had been constructed across a Roman road. They indicate that the original church consisted of a nave, possibly with a narthex, and side-chapels to the north and south. A smaller subsidiary building was found to the south-west of these foundations. During the ninth or tenth century this church was replaced by a larger structure (49 m. by 23 m.) with a squared west end.

The cathedral was badly damaged during Danish raids on Canterbury in 1011. The Archbishop, Alphege, was taken hostage by the raiders and eventually killed at Greenwich on 19 April 1012, the first of Canterbury’s five martyred archbishops. After this a western apse was added as an oratory of St. Mary, probably during the archbishopric of Lyfing (1013–1020) or Aethelnoth (1020–1038).

Norman

The cathedral was destroyed by fire in 1067, a year after the Norman Conquest. Rebuilding began in 1070 under the first Norman archbishop, Lanfranc (1070–77). He cleared the ruins and reconstructed the cathedral to a design based closely on that of the Abbey of St. Etienne in Caen, where he had previously been abbot, using stone brought from France. The new church, its central axis about 5m south of that of its predecessor,^[6]was a cruciform building, with an aisled nave of nine bays, a pair of towers at the west end, aiseless transepts with apsidal chapels, a low crossing tower, and a short choir ending in three apses. It was dedicated in 1077.

As with many Romanesque church buildings, the interior of the choir was richly embellished.^[14]William of Malmesbury wrote: “Nothing like it could be seen in England either for the light of its glass windows, the gleaming of its marble pavements, or the many-coloured paintings which led the eyes to the panelled ceiling above.”^[14]

As is typical with gigantic old churches, its history is primarily a history of being built. Over centuries and over generations, it was build, torn down, damaged, re-built, refined, until it reached its current state of beauty. In fact, some parts of the Cathedral were even destroyed during WWII. This included the library (don’t worry, they were hiding the books in the basement of the church) and also some of the residence buildings for church-people. I can’t be certain, because this place is sparse on signs that don’t describe dead people, but I think some of the remains of these old bombed out buildings have been left, as there were single walls and arches in one of the gardens we explored.

One of the most important things that happened here is the murder of Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was caught up in the classic church-vs-state struggle. That is, he was the most powerful person in the church, and he used those powers to ex-communicate people who weren’t following the church’s rules. The state (aka King Henry II) didn’t like that so much. As the story goes, King Henry II yelled out “will nobody rid me of this turbulent man?!”. His guards overheard, and were obviously a bunch of ass-kissing keeners, because they hustled on down to Canterbury and murdered Thomas Becket in the Cathedral.

This was a fairly dramatic event. People totally flipped out, the Pope made this guy a saint (perhaps ex-communicating fools was considered a miracle back then) and people began to embark on pilgrimages from all across the country in order to visit the shrine of Thomas Becket. This massive influx of visitors created great wealth, and thus funded the continued growth and expansion of the church.

And let me tell you, there must have been an insane amount people visiting this site, because the church is massive. There is a truly remarkable amount of space for worship. It’s like 10 churches in 1. I can only imagine what the church would’ve been like at its heyday, when it was filled with pilgrims offering devotion. The crypt, as the oldest part of the church, was particularly memorable. I wasn’t allowed to take any photos down there, so google it.

Ok, I’ll calm down with all the history. Let’s talk about me and Nana Ev. On Sunday afternoon, Nana Ev and went to Canterbury Cathedral for Evensong. Evensong is basically the Sunday church service, but more singing and no communion. Those choirboys were wonderful singers, and their talents were beautifully highlighted by acoustics of the cathedral. It was a really special experience.

The next day, we went back to Canterbury Cathedral to take a tour and explore the grounds. Here’s an overhead view of the grounds. We basically saw it all, including the nearby campus of the King’s School. We walked and walked and walked. We probably spent close to 2 hours there, and could have easily spent more if lunch hadn’t been calling. It’s a truly beautiful place, with centuries history that would truly take years to explore. The ceilings, the windows, the walls, the gardens. All of it was lovely. There were also a lot of people buried within the cathedral, including King Henry IV, to whom my family is apparently related. We took a #familyselfie. Check the photos below for that gem 🙂

It’s certainly not the centre of the community that it once was, but it’s very clearly still a beehive of historical and religious activity. And no matter where you go, you can always catch a glimpse of it in the skyline. If you’re ever in Canterbury, you’d be a complete fool if you didn’t go to the Cathedral.

Check out the photos I took on our Canterbury Cathedral adventures. If you’ve ever taken photos in a church, you know that it’s an effort in vain, but there they are anyway:

Nana said we were related to this guy, so we took a #familyselfie

the program from Evensong

March 11, 2015