What are facts about Canterbury cathedral?

Answer 1

• Canterbury cathedral was a Priory, meaning that it was headed by a brother Prior. It was subordinate to Canterbury's other monastery, St Augustine's Abbey which was headed by an Abbot.
• The central tower of the cathedral is 250 feet tall and is known as Bell Harry Tower.
• St Augustine founded the original cathedral (the first in England) on the site soon after he arrived in 597 AD.
• The cathedral was subsequently rebuilt at least four times; as was usual, the Normans effectively destroyed the Saxon building and rebuilt it in their own Norman style - it was dedicated in 1077.
• The cathedral has been extended, re-modelled, repaired and altered many times but it retains some of the original Norman work, particularly in the crypt.
• In 1165 a detailed plan of the cathedral and its monastic buildings was drawn - this survives today as the only such contemporary plan of an English cathedral. Included on the plan are details of a complex and extensive Plumbing system for providing clean water and flushing lavatories.
• The cathedral today has 21 bells housed in three towers.
• The cathedral has some surviving late 12th century stained glass windows - some of the finest and most colourful in the country.
• When Henry VIII forcibly closed the monasteries he also destroyed all the shrines of saints, including that of St Thomas Becket at Canterbury cathedral. It is said that 26 wagons were needed to transport the stolen gold, jewels and other treasure from the shrine to the Tower of London and Henry's coffers.