The chief entrance to the precincts is through an ornate gateway at the south-west, called Christchurch gateway, and built by Prior Goldstone in 1517. Among the remains of the monastic buildings there may be mentioned the Monastic buildings. Norman ruins of the infirmary, the fine two-storeyed treasury and the lavatory tower, Norman in the lower part and Perpendicular in the upper. The cloisters are of various dates, containing a little rich Norman work, but were very largely rebuilt by Prior Chillenden. The upper part of the chapter-house is also his work, but the lower is by Prior de Estria. The library is modern. The site of the New Hall of the monastery is covered by modern buildings of King’s school, but the Norman entry-stair is preserved—a magnificent example of the style, with highly ornate arcading.

The principal dimensions of the cathedral arc: length (outside) 522 ft., nave 178 ft., choir 180 ft. The nave is 71 ft. in breadth and 80 ft. in height.

The archbishop of Canterbury is primate of all England; the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury covers England Province and diocese. and Wales south of Cheshire and Yorkshire; and the diocese covers a great part of Kent with a small part of Sussex. The following is a list of archbishops of Canterbury:—

 1. Augustine, 597 to 605.49. John Peckham, 1279 to 1292.
 2. Lawrence (Laurentius), 605 to 619.50. Robert Winchelsea, 1293 to 1313.
 3. Mellitus, 619 to 624.51. Walter Reynolds, 1313 to 1327.
 4. Justin. 624 to 627.52. Simon de Meopham, 1328 to 1333.
 5. Honorius, 627 to 653.53. John Stratford, 1333 to 1348.
 6. Deusdedit (Frithona), 655 to 664.54. John de Ufford, 1348 to 1349.
 7. Theodore, 668 to 690.55. Thomas Bradwardin, 1349.
 8. Brethwald (Berhtuald), 693 to 731.56. Simon Islip, 1349 to 1366.
 9. Taetwine. 731 to 734.57. Simon Langham, 1366 to 1368.
10. Nothelm, 734 to 740.58. William Whittlesea, 1368 to 1374.
11. Cuthbert, 740 to 758.59. Simon Sudbury, 1375 to 1381.
12. Breogwine, 759 to 762.60. William Courtenay, 1381 to 1396.
13. Jaenberht, 763 to 790.61. Thomas Arundel, 1396 to 1414.
14. Aethelhard, 790 to 803.62. Henry Chicheley, 1414 to 1443.
15. Wulfred, 803 to 829.63. John Stafford, 1443 to 1452.
16. Fleogild, 829 to 830.64. John Kemp, 1452 to 1454.
17. Ceolnoth, 830 to 870.65. Thomas Bourchier, 1454 to 1486.
18. Aethelred, 870 to 889.66. John Morton, 1486 to 1500.
19. Plegemund, 889 to 914.67. Henry Dean (Dene), 1501 to 1503.
20. Aethelm, 914 to 923.68. William Warham, 1503 to 1532.
21. Wulfelm, 923 to 942.69. Thomas Cranmer, 1533 to 1556.
22. Odo, 942 to 959.70. Reginald Pole, 1556 to 1558.
23. Aelsine, 959.71. Matthew Parker, 1559 to 1575.
24. Dunstan, 960 to 988.72. Edmund Grindal, 1575 to 1583.
25. Aethelgar, 988 to 989.73. John Whitgift, 1583 to 1604.
26. Sigeric, 990 to 994.74. Richard Bancroft, 1604 to 1610.
27. Aelfric, 995 to 1005.75. George Abbot, 1610 to 1633.
28. Alphege (Aelfeah), 1005 to 1012.76. William Laud, 1633 to 1645.
29. Lyfing, 1013 to 1020.77. William Juxon, 1660 to 1663.
30. Aethelnoth, 1020 to 1038.78. Gilbert Sheldon, 1663 to 1677.
31. Eadsige, 1038 to 1050.79. William Sancroft, 1678 to 1691.
32. Robert of Jumièges, 1051 to 1052.80. John Tillotson, 1691 to 1694.
33. Stigand, 1052 to 1070.81. Thomas Tenison, 1694 to 1715.
34. Lanfranc, 1070 to 1089.82. William Wake, 1716 to 1737.
35. Anselm, 1093 to 1109.83. John Potter, 1737 to 1747.
36. Ralph de Turbine, 1114 to 1122.84. Thomas Herring, 1747 to 1757.
37. William de Corbeuil (Curbellio), 1123 to 1136.85. Matthew Hutton, 1757 to 1758.
38. Theobald, 1139 to 1161.86. Thomas Secker, 1758 to 1768.
39. Thomas Becket, 1162 to 1170.87. Frederick Cornwallis, 1768 to 1783.
40. Richard, 1174 to 1184.88. John Moore, 1783 to 1805.
41. Baldwin, 1185 to 1190.89. Charles Manners-Sutton, 1805 to 1828.
42. Reginald Fitz-Jocelyn, 1191.90. William Howley, 1828 to 1848.
43. Hubert Walter, 1193 to 1205.91. John Bird Sumner, 1848 to 1862.
44. Stephen Langton, 1207 to 1228.92. Charles Thomas Longley, 1862 to 1868.
45. Richard Wethershed, 1229 to 1231.93. Archibald Campbell Tait, 1868 to 1882.
46. Edmund Rich (de Abbendon) 1234 to 1240.94. Edward White Benson, 1882 to 1896.
47. Boniface of Savoy, 1241 to 1270.95. Frederick Temple, 1896 to 1903.
48. Robert Kilwardby, 1273 to 1278.96. Randall Thomas Davidson.

The archbishop has a seat at Lambeth Palace, London. There are fragments in Palace Street of the old archbishop’s palace which have been incorporated with a modern palace.

Other Ecclesiastical Foundations.—Canterbury naturally abounded in religious foundations. The most important, apart from the cathedral, was the Benedictine abbey of St Augustine. This was erected on a site granted by King Aethelberht outside his capital, in a tract called Longport. Augustine dedicated it to St Peter and St Paul, but Archbishop Dunstan added the sainted name of the founder to the dedication, and in common use it came to exclude those of the apostles. The site is now occupied by St Augustine’s Missionary College, founded in 1844 when the property was acquired by A.J.B. Beresford Hope. Some ancient remnants are preserved, the principal being the entrance gateway (1300), with the cemetery gate, dated a century later, and the guest hall, now the refectory; but the scanty ruins of St Pancras’ chapel are of high interest, and embody Roman material. The chapel is said to have received its dedication from St Augustine on account of the special association of St Pancras with children, and in connexion with the famous story of St Gregory, w hose attention was first attracted to Britain when he saw the fair-faced children of the Angles who had been brought to Rome, and termed them “not Angles but angels.”

There were lesser houses of many religious orders in Canterbury, but only two, those of the Dominicans near St Peter’s church in St Peter’s Street, and the Franciscans, also in St Peter’s Street, have left notable remains. The Dominican refectory is used as a chapel. Among the many churches, St Martin’s, Longport, is of the first interest. This was the scene of the earliest work of Augustine in Canterbury, and had seen Christian service before his arrival. Its walls contain Roman masonry, but whether it is in part a genuine remnant of a Romano-British Christian church is open to doubt. There are Norman, Early English and later portions; and the font may be in part pre-Norman, and is indeed associated by tradition with the baptism of Aethelberht himself. St Mildred’s church exhibits Early English and Perpendicular work, and the use of Roman material is again visible here. St Paul’s is of Early English origin; St Dunstan’s, St Peter’s and Holy Cross are mainly Decorated and Perpendicular. The village of Harbledown, on the hill west of Canterbury on the London road, from the neighbourhood of which a beautiful view over the city is obtained, has many associations with the ecclesiastical life of Canterbury. It is mentioned by Chaucer in his pilgrimage under the name, appropriate to its site, of “Bob up and down.” The almshouses, which occupy the site of Lanfranc’s hospital for lepers, include an ancient hall and a chapel in which the west door and northern nave arcade are Norman, and are doubtless part of Lanfranc’s buildings. The neighbouring parish church is in great part rebuilt. Among the numerous charitable institutions in Canterbury there are several which may be called the descendants of medieval ecclesiastical foundations.

City Buildings, &c.—The old city walls may be traced, and the public walk called the Dane John (derived probably from donjon) follows the summit of a high artificial mound within the lines. The cathedral is finely seen from this point. Only the massive turreted west gate, of the later part of the 14th century, remains out of the former six city gates. The site of the castle is not far from the Dane John, and enough remains of the Norman keep to show its strength and great size. Among other buildings and institutions there may be mentioned the guildhall in High Street, of the early part of the 18th century; the museum, which includes a fine collection of local, including many Roman, relics; and the school of art, under municipal management, but founded by the painter T. Sidney Cooper (d. 1902), who was a resident at Harbledown. A modern statue of a muse commemorates the poet Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593), a native of the city; and a pillar indicates the place where a number of persons were burnt at the stake in the reign of Mary.

The King’s school, occupying buildings adjacent to the cathedral, developed out of the early teaching furnished by the monastery. It was refounded by Henry VIII. in 1541 (whence its name), and is managed on the lines of ordinary public schools. It has about 250 boys; and there is besides a junior or preparatory school. The school is still connected with the ecclesiastical foundation, the dean and chapter being its governors.

A noted occasion of festivity in Canterbury is the Canterbury cricket-week, when the Kent county cricket eleven engages in matches with other first-class teams, and many visitors are attracted to the city.