Intro - Our Pilgrimage to Canterbury
Historically, Canterbury Cathedral has been the destination for pilgrims, notably chronicled in the Canterbury Tales. Saint Thomas Becket’s martyrdom has drawn thousands of pilgrims over the centuries who travel to Canterbury to venerate the saint. He was the archbishop in the 12th century. We were drawn to Canterbury by another archbishop, some 200 years earlier, Archbishop Sigeric the Serious. Instead of completing our pilgrimage in Canterbury, we started ours there. The Via Francigena.
Saint Thomas Becket
Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, became a martyr after his conflict with King Henry II over Church autonomy. Their once-strong relationship soured, leading Henry to utter, “Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?” This question, borne out of frustration, was interpreted by four knights as a directive to eliminate Becket. On December 29, 1170, they murdered him in the cathedral, sealing his status as a martyr.
After Becket’s death, many reports of miraculous healings from touching his spilled blood started the tradition of making a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral. His canonization and shrine amplified his legacy as a spiritual intercessor, reinforcing the cathedral’s prominence in medieval England’s religious landscape. This pilgrimage tradition was famously depicted in Geoffrey Chaucer’s “The Canterbury Tales,” highlighting the enduring cultural impact of Becket’s martyrdom and sanctity.
The Via Francigena
Pre-dating Thomas Becket by about 200 years, in the year 990, newly elevated Archbishop of Canterbury Sigeric the Serious traveled to Rome to receive his pallium from Pope John XV. On his way back from Rome he recorded the route. About twenty years ago, the Via Francigena organization was formed to create a modern pilgrimage trail, using the Camino de Santiago as a guide.
We learned of the Via Francigena while walking the Camino during a rest stop for coffee and pastry. A couple from Switzerland had walked the Via Francigena the year prior and highly recommended the pilgrimage.
Getting to Canterbury
Our own Canterbury tale began in France, where we visited Paris, Mont Saint Michel, Normandy, Bayeaux, and Rouen. After visiting Saint Joan of Arc Cathedral in Rouen, we drove under the English Channel to get to Canterbury.
The Channel Tunnel experience was amazing. We booked ahead with a reservation and arrived a little early, so they let us take an earlier train. Yes, you don’t actually drive under the channel. You and your car ride on a train that takes you across.
Once on the UK side, both of us chanted every few seconds, “Stay Left,” to remind us Americans how to drive. That worked. I only made two mistakes and thank goodness neither resulted in an accident. The car park in Canterbury could have been an obstacle as well. The ticket kiosk was located on the right side of the driveway, but I was in the left driver’s seat of our French car. Good thing Laura was in the passenger side and could work the kiosk.
Going into the Cathedral
We stopped at the tourist office first, before heading to the Cathedral, to purchase our Via Francigena credential, the booklet where we collect stamps. We could not decide what event marked the start of the pilgrimage, having the booklet in hand or obtaining the first stamp. It does not matter, though, since we earned that first stamp once we arrived to the Cathedral entrance.
At first, we did not recognize the Cathedral entrance at the intersection of Burgate and Mercery Lanes. The Christchurch gate was closed, but we saw a line of people queued up to go into the door on the left. It looked like a gift shop and museum, instead of the entrance. We joined the queue and were soon prepared to pay the entry fee, until a nice young woman saw our pilgrim passports.
She brought us over to a table and stamped our passports and said, “Welcome!” Since we were pilgrims, there was no charge. That was nice.
Once we were in the Cathedral grounds, we were torn between finding the first marker of the Via Francigena and exploring the Cathedral itself. The Cathedral won.
Entering the Great South West door, we were amazed with the size of the Nave, both in breadth and length, but more so the height. The slender columns and huge windows make this space feel like a marvel of architecture. People from a thousand years ago spent so much of their effort just sustaining themselves, how did they have time, funds, and engineering skills to build such a church?
There were plenty of helpful guides, wearing blue jackets, to answer our questions. They gave us a map, with a suggested route, to explore the Cathedral on our own. The one question they were unable to answer was the location of the marker that starts the Via Francigena. But, more on that later.
We soon found ourselves at the location of Saint Thomas Becket’s martyrdom, and the floor where his holy blood was shed. Since this was a place of healing, and our prayer list was filled with requests for health, we knelt right there, under the sword sculpture, are read through the prayer requests that we brought with us.
Once we completed our self-guided tour of the Cathedral, we searched for the starting point of the Via Francigena to no avail. We asked several guides and no one was able to help us find it. I had previously found it on Google Maps, but the stone was not where it was when the Google guy photographed it. Finally, a nice gentleman pointed it out, right in the middle between the two places it had been previously. Apparently, they move the marker from time to time.
Staying in Canterbury
Canterbury is a charming town. We spent the afternoon wandering through the historic streets, soaking in the sights that were present since before America was discovered. Just outside the Christchurch gate lies a war memorial for World War 1, or “The War to End all Wars”. If only that were true. It is now a gathering point for the many walking tours in Canterbury.
Just past the memorial is the Old Butter Market pub, a place that was unfortunately closed when we stopped by, but will be on the list for our next visit. The marker there tells of Roman artifacts found in the basement and the remnants of a tunnel connecting it to the Cathedral. In the end it was lucky for us it was closed because we were still hungry and thirsty when we happened upon another historic pub, The Parrot.
The Parrot has been in operation (with various names) since 1370. We settled down for a meal next to the fireplace, with an atmosphere that brought us back in time. Of course, I had to order a cask-conditioned ale and was not disappointed in the smooth maltiness. Plus, it was served with a “cheers” from the barman who did not feel the need to explain it was not an American-style beer. The fish and chips were filling, but desert divine. We had seen sticky toffee pudding on TV but had never tried it until this day. What a treat, the warm, moist cake came with a container of rich, buttery toffee sauce. It took us a second to pour the sauce over the cake for that once in a lifetime indulgence. Although I’m sure my blood sugar is still elevated from that confection.
Walking off that meal brought us past the Crooked House, a bookshop that looked like it was ready to tip over. Since Charles Dickens wrote about it in 1849, I guess the house is structurally sound.
We retrieved our car from the car park, and with Laura’s help to insert the validated ticket in the kiosk, we made our way to the hotel for the night. A short drive to the Howfield Manor Hotel. After another pint at the hotel bar, deep in the comfortable chairs, we turned in for the night.
The next morning, after a hearty “Full English” breakfast, it was back on the road (Stay Left) to head back into France to continue our driving pilgrimage. We would have loved to stay a few days there, and perhaps walk to Dover, but time was limited. It was the fall, and we wanted to drive through France and arrive at the Great Saint Bernard pass before it was closed for the winter.
Attributions for Photos
Christchurch Gate Photo attribution: ABrocke, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nave Interior photo courtesy of Jules and Jenny.