Canterbury Cathedral, amongst the oldest Christian sites in England

Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England and forms part of a World Heritage Site.

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KENT, ENGLAND (Catholic Online) - Formally titled the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury, the cathedral is overseen by the Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

The cathedral was founded in 597 by the Archbishop Augustine of Canterbury, who was sent to England by Pope Gregory the Great as a missionary to the Anglo-Saxon peoples.

Following a fire in 1067 which totally destroy the cathedral, it was rebuilt in its entirety from 1070 to 1077 under the first Norman Archbishop Lanfranc. Another fire severely damaged the cathedral's choir in 1174, which required major reconstruction, resulting in the cathedral being rebuilt in the new Gothic style.

One of the great historical moments within the Cathedral was the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket in 1170, by knights of King Henry the II. The king frequently clashed with Becket, who was noted to be strong-willed. A shrine was erected in the Archbishop's honor, and became a site of pilgrimage.

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