The Cathedral Church of Canterbury

by Hartley Withers

Overview

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781983523410
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	01/04/2018
Pages:	96
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.20(d)

Read an Excerpt

CHAPTER II. EXTERIOR AND PRECINCTS THE MONASTERY. The external beauties of Canterbury Cathedral can best be viewed in their entirety from a distance. The old town has nestled in close under the walls of the church that dominates it, preventing anything like a complete view of the building from the immediate precincts. But Canterbury is girt with a ring of hills, from which we may enjoy a strikingly beautiful view of the ancient city, lying asleep in the rich, peaceful valley of the Stour, and the mighty cathedral towering over the red- tiled roofs of the town, and looking, as a rustic remarked as he gazed down upon it " like a hen brooding over her chickens." Erasmus must have been struck by some such aspect of the cathedral, for he says, " It rears its crest (erigit se) with so great majesty to the sky, that it inspires a feeling of awe even in those who look at it from afar." Such a view may well be got from the hills of Harbledown, a village about two miles from Canterbury, containing in itself many objects of antiquarian and aesthetic interest. It stands on the road by which Chaucer's pilgrims wended their way to the shrine of St. Thomas, and it is almost certainly referred to in the lines in which the poet speaks of " A litel toun Which that ycleped is Bobbe-up-and-doun Under the Blee in Caunterbury weye." The name Harbledown is derived by local philologists from Bob-up-and-down, and the hilly nature of the country fully justifies the title. Here stands Lanfranc's Lazar-house, "so picturesque even now in its decay, and in spite of modern alterations which have swept away all but the ivy-clad chapelof Lanfranc." In this hospital a shoe of St. Thomas was preserved which pilgrimswere expected to kiss as they passed by; and in an old chest the modern visitor may ...