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Canterbury Cathedral

Canterbury Cathedral
Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury
Canterbury-cathedral-wyrdlight.jpg
Cathedral from the city entrance
Coordinates: 51°16′47″N 1°04′59″E / 51.279722°N 1.083056°E / 51.279722; 1.083056
Location Canterbury, Kent
Country England
Denomination Church of England (previously the Catholic Church)
Website canterbury-cathedral.org
History
Consecrated 1070
Architecture
Style Romanesque, Gothic
Years built 1070–1834 (last major alteration)
Specifications
Length 525 feet (160 m)
Nave length 178 feet (54 m)
Choir length 180 feet (55 m)
Width 154 feet (47 m)
Nave width 71 feet (22 m)
Nave height 80 feet (24 m)
Choir height 71 feet (22 m)
Number of towers 5
Tower height 236 feet (72 m) (crossing)
Number of spires 1 (now lost)
Spire height 190 feet (58 m) (north west tower – demolished 1705)
Administration
Diocese Canterbury (since 1072)
Province Canterbury
Clergy
Archbishop Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury
Bishop(s) Trevor Willmott, Bishop suffragan of Dover
Dean Robert Willis
Precentor Matthew Rushton
Canon Chancellor Christopher Irvine
Canon Pastor Clare Edwards
Canon Treasurer Nicholas Papadopulos
Archdeacon Sheila Watson
Laity
Organist/Director of music David Flood
Official name Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, vi
Designated 1988 (12th session)
Reference no. 496
State Party United Kingdom
Region Europe and North America

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion; the archbishop, being suitably occupied with national and international matters, delegates the most of his functions as diocesan bishop to the Bishop suffragan of Dover, currently Trevor Willmott. Its formal title is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury.

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.

Christianity had started to become powerful in the Roman Empire around the third century. Following the conversion of Augustine of Hippo in the 4th century, the influence of Christianity grew steadily. The cathedral's first bishop was Augustine of Canterbury, previously abbot of St. Andrew's Benedictine Abbey in Rome; when other dioceses were founded in England he was made archbishop. 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.


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