Canterbury Cathedral - Kent Tourism Alliance

The ‘stronghold of the people of Kent", this cathedral city on the River Stour was once the regional centre of the Romans (Durovernum). It was also the county’s capital in the days of the Anglo-Saxons. In the year 602 St. Augustine founded Christ Church and an abbey.

The present cathedral was started in 1070 by Archbishop Lanfranc and it was here that Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered by Henry II’s knights in 1170. Although Becket’s shrine was destroyed during the reign of Henry VIII, the cathedral still contains the tombs of the Black Prince and Henry IV.

St. Martin’s Church, which possibly pre-dated St. Augustine, is believed to be the oldest church in England still in use. A World Heritage Site, the city has combined its past with its present cosmopolitan sensibility and has two theatres and a prestigious shopping centre.