The Cathedral Church of Canterbury [2nd ed.]: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Archiepiscopal See

THE HISTORY OF THE BUILDING.

M

ore than four hundred years passed by between the beginning of the

building of this cathedral by Archbishop Lanfranc (1070-1089) and its

completion, by the addition of the great central tower, at the end of the fif-

teenth century. But before tracing the history of the construction of the

present well-known fabric, a few words will not be out of place concerning

the church which preceded it on the same site. A British or Roman church,

said to have been built by a certain mythical King Lucius, was given to St.

Augustine by Ethelbert in A.D. 597. It was designed, broadly speaking, on

the plan of the old Basilica of St. Peter at Rome, but as to the latest date of

any alterations, which may or may not have been made by Augustine and his

immediate successors, we have no accurate information. It is, however, def-

initely stated that Archbishop Odo, who held the see from A.D. 942-959,

raised the walls and rebuilt the roof. In the course of these alterations the

church was roofless for three years, and we are told that no rain fell within

the precincts during this time. In A.D. 1011 Canterbury was pillaged by the

Danes, who carried off Archbishop Alphege to Greenwich, butchered the

monks, and did much damage to the church. The building was, however,

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restored by Canute, who made further atonement by hanging up his crown

within its walls, and bringing back the body of Alphege, who had been mar-

tyred by the Danes. In the year 1067 the storms of the Norman Conquest

overwhelmed St. Augustine's church, which was completely destroyed by

fire, together with many royal deeds of privilege and papal bulls, and other

valuable documents.

A description of the church thus destroyed is given by Prof. Willis, who

quotes all the ancient writers who mention it. The chief authority is Ead-

mer, who was a boy at the monastery school when the Saxon church was

pulled down, and was afterwards a monk and "singer" in the cathedral. It is

he who tells us that it was arranged in some parts in imitation of the church

of St. Peter at Rome. Odo had translated the body of Wilfrid, Archbishop

of York, from Ripon to Canterbury, and had "worthily placed it in a more

lofty receptacle, to use his own words, that is to say, in the great Altar which

was constructed of rough stones and mortar, close to the wall at the eastern

part of the presbytery. Afterwards another altar was placed at a convenient

distance before the aforesaid altar.... In this altar the blessed Elphege had

solemnly deposited the head of St. Swithin ... and also many relics of other

saints. To reach these altars, a certain crypt which the Romans call a Confes-

sionary had to be ascended by means of several steps from the choir of the

singers. This crypt was fabricated beneath in the likeness of the confession-

ary of St. Peter, the vault of which was raised so high that the part above

could only be reached by many steps." The resting-place of St. Dunstan was

Gregory.... Opposite to this tower and on the north, the other tower