DISCOVER CANTERBURY, Kent
Canterbury is a city located in eastern Kent in the South East region of England. In Latin the city was called Durovernum Cantiacorum; it lay at the junction of three roads from their ports of Regulbium (Reculver), Dubris (Dover) and Lemanis (Lympne); and it stood on what has become known as Watling Street. The city walls and one of the city gates remain.
The city is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of All England, head of the Church of England and of the worldwide Anglican Communion.
Thomas Beckett was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral; King Henry IV was buried along with Edward the Black Prince.
Furthermore, Geoffery Chaucer wrote the Canterbury Tales about the pilgrims and the people. This literary heritage was continued with Christopher Marlowe who was born here.
The city became a county corporate in 1461; Canterbury was made a county borough under the Local Government Act 1888.
 GEOGRAPHY OF CANTERBURY
The city is on the River Great Stour, flowing from Ashford to the English Channel at Sandwich, but is currently navigable only on the tidal section from Sandwich to Fordwich, north east of Canterbury.
ENTERTAINMENT, CULTURE & SPORT IN CANTERBURY
MUSIC:
The city gave its name to a musical genre known as the Canterbury Sound or Canterbury Scene (a subgenre of Progressive Rock). Shortly after there was a decline in the music scene and it is only just starting to pick itself back up again due to students running live music nights within the city.
THEATRE:
The town's theatre and concert hall is the Marlowe Theatre named after Christopher Marlowe who was born in the city in Elizabethan times. This is to be found in The Friars. The old Marlowe Theatre was located in St Margaret's Street and housed a repertory theatre. Another theatre the Gulbenkian also serves the city and can be found at the University of Kent. Theatrical performances take place at several areas of the city, for instance the Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, etc. The premiere of "Murder in the Cathedral" by T. S. Elliot took place at Canterbury Cathedral.
SPORT:
St Lawrence Ground is notable as one of the two grounds used regularly for first-class cricket that have a tree within the boundary (the other is Pietermaritzburg cricket ground in South Africa).It is the home ground of Kent CCC and has hosted several England games too.
Canterbury City F.C. reformed in 2007 as a Community interest company and the mens team will compete in the Kent County League Division Two (East) in 2007/08. The previous incarnation of the club folded in 2001. Canterbury's Local Rugby Union team was promoted to the National League Division 3 South in 2007.
Canterbury has also seen the Tour de France visit the city twice, once in 1994 and once in 2007, where it hosted the finish for Stage 1 of the race.
Canterbury Hockey Club which often leads the league of English hockey. Former Olympic gold medal winner Sean Kerly is one of their coaches.
RAILWAY TO CANTERBURY
Canterbury has two railway stations, Canterbury West and Canterbury East. Paradoxically, Canterbury West is almost due North of Canterbury East. The services from these are operated by Southeastern. Canterbury West is served primarily from London Charing Cross with limited services from Victoria as well as by trains to Ramsgate and Margate. Services from London Victoria stop at Canterbury East (journey time around 88 minutes) and continue to Dover.
Faster services are promised from 2009, with the introduction of Japanese "bullet" trains which will cut 30-45 minutes off the travel time to London. It is expected that this reduction in commuting time will have an impact in property prices in Canterbury.
Canterbury West station was the earliest to be built. It was opened by the South Eastern Railway from Ashford on 6 February 1846; on 13 April the line to Ramsgate was completed. Canterbury East is the more central of the two stations, although it came later, being opened by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway on 9 July 1860.
Canterbury was also the terminus of the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway (known locally as the 'Crab and Winkle' line) which was a pioneer line, opened in 1830, and finally closed in 1953. Despite claims by the Stockton and Darlington Railway, the Canterbury and Whitstable was the first regular passenger steam railway in the world. It included the first significant railway tunnel in the world, which is located at the Archbishop's School and the first railway bridge in the world.
The locomotive which originally worked the line, Invicta, was until recently displayed at the museum at Canterbury, but now can be found in the National Railway Museum, York. Part of the former route of the line can be walked along near Tyler Hill. Part of one of the buildings of the University collapsed into the closed railway tunnel on 11 July 1974, extensive rebuilding and the filling in of the tunnel was required.
ROAD LINKS TO CANTERBURY
Canterbury is now by-passed by the A2 London to Dover Road. It is about 45 miles from the M25 London orbital motorway, and 61 miles from central London. The other main road through Canterbury is the A28 from Ashford to Ramsgate and Margate. Canterbury is legendary for traffic congestion throughout the day, and the City Council has invested heavily in Park-and-Ride systems around the City's outskirts.
There are three sites, at Wincheap, New Dover Road and Sturry Road. There are plans to build direct access sliproads to and from the London directions of the A2 where it meets the congested Wincheap (at present there are only slips from the A28 to and from the direction of Dover) to allow more direct access to Canterbury from the A2, but these are currently subject to local discussion.
The hourly National Express coach service to and from Victoria Coach Station, which leaves from the main bus station is typically scheduled to take 2 hours.
EDUCATION IN CANTERBURY
The city has many students as it is home to several Higher Education institutions and other colleges. The University of Kent's Canterbury campus stands on a hill about two miles outside the city centre. Chaucer College is an independent graduate college for Japanese students within the campus of the University. Near the University of Kent is the Franciscan International Study Centre, a place of study for the worldwide Franciscan Order.
Canterbury Christ Church University is located in the city as is one of the campuses of the University College for the Creative Arts. There is also the Further Education institution, Canterbury College. There was also the St Augustine's College, Canterbury (1848-1976), a Church of England theological college.
Independent secondary schools include St Edmund's School, Kent College, and what may be the world's oldest extant school The King's School.
State secondary schools include Archbishop's School, Barton Court Grammar School, Chaucer Technology School, Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys, Simon Langton Girl's Grammar School, The Canterbury High School and St Anselm's Catholic School.
From Wikipedia
 CANTERBURY Hotels & Accommodation
ENGLAND TOURS, TRAVEL & ACTIVITIES
HOME •
ENGLAND •
DISCOVER •
Southeast England •
Kent •
Discover Canterbury
|
Looking for something specific?
Quick Links for your Magical Journey ...
|
ENGLAND HOTELS:
SOUTHEAST ENGLAND HOTELS:
KENT HOTELS:
Ashford,
Canterbury,
Dartford,
Dover,
Folkestone,
Hythe,
Maidstone,
Ramsgate,
Royal Tunbridge Wells,
Sevenoaks,
Tonbridge,
... see all Kent Hotels
|
ENGLAND TOURS:
SOUTHEAST ENGLAND TOURS:
Brighton,
Cambridge,
Eastbourne,
Norwich,
Oxford,
Windsor,
Holiday Packages,
... see all England Tours & Travel
|
DISCOVER ENGLAND:
SOUTHEAST ENGLAND:
KENT:
Canterbury,
Canterbury Cathedral,
Dover,
Dover Castle,
Folkestone,
Maidstone,
Rochester Castle,
|
Canterbury Cathedral, Thomas A Becket Shrine, England
Photographic Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
|
