A single candle burns where the golden shrine once stood.
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Coming up: Feast of Thomas Becket (the Martyrdom) · 29 DecEntry tended 12 Jul 2026
Mon to Sat 10 am to 5 pm From £18 · under-18s free Evensong daily 5:30 pm Becket feast · 29 Dec Gothic quire · rebuilt from 1174
You pass under the carved saints of Christ Church Gate and the noise of the city falls away. Bell Harry, the great central tower, rises pale against the Kent sky, and inside the nave climbs on slender Perpendicular piers like a forest turned to stone. At half past five the choir sings Evensong, as prayer has sounded here since 597. Then a flight of worn steps, a bare stretch of pavement, one burning candle. An archbishop was murdered in this church, and a king came barefoot to answer for it.
This is the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the mother church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Founded by St. Augustine in 597, sent from Rome by Pope Gregory the Great, it is England's first cathedral and the oldest see of the English Church.
On 29 December 1170 Archbishop Thomas Becket was cut down at Vespers in the north-west transept by four knights of King Henry II. His shrine made Canterbury the greatest pilgrimage of medieval England, the road Chaucer's pilgrims travel in The Canterbury Tales.
After the fire of 1174, the French master William of Sens raised the quire in the new pointed style: the arrival of Gothic architecture in England. With St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church, the cathedral has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988.
The archbishop who would not yield
In 597 a Roman monk named Augustine landed in Kent, sent by Pope Gregory the Great to preach to the English. King Ethelbert gave him a church in his capital, and Augustine established his seat there, dedicating it to Christ the Holy Saviour. Every Archbishop of Canterbury since has been his successor. The Saxon church burned, and from 1070 the Norman archbishop Lanfranc rebuilt it on the model of his abbey at Caen, while the vast crypt beneath the east end rose a generation later and still stands.
In 1170 the quarrel between King Henry II and his former friend Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, turned deadly. Four knights, taking the king's furious words as command, found Becket in the cathedral at Vespers on 29 December and killed him with swords before the altar of the north-west transept. Under his vestments the monks found a hairshirt. Miracles were reported at his tomb within days; Pope Alexander III canonized him in February 1173, and in July 1174 Henry himself walked into Canterbury as a penitent and was scourged at the tomb.
That same year fire gutted the quire, and William of Sens rebuilt it in the pointed Gothic of France. On 7 July 1220 the martyr's relics were carried up into the new Trinity Chapel and laid in a shrine of gold and jewels, and for three centuries the pilgrims came, Chaucer's among them. In 1538 Henry VIII destroyed the shrine and ordered Becket's name blotted from the books. Today the spot is marked by a single burning candle, and archbishops still celebrate the Eucharist beside it.
What you'll actually see
1
The Perpendicular nave and Bell Harry
The nave you enter was rebuilt from the late 14th century by Henry Yevele, master mason of medieval England, its piers soaring to lace-like vaults. Above the crossing hangs the fan vault of Bell Harry, the central tower finished in 1498 by John Wastell and rising 235 feet over the city.
2
The Martyrdom
In the north-west transept, the place of Becket's murder is kept as the Martyrdom. A stark modern sculpture by Giles Blomfield hangs on the wall, jagged swords casting shadows like blades, above the spot where in the Middle Ages an altar held the broken point of the sword that killed him.
3
The quire, the Miracle Windows and the candle
Beyond the pilgrim-worn steps, William of Sens's quire leads to the Trinity Chapel, ringed by the Miracle Windows, medieval glass of about 1180 to 1220 showing the healings worked at Becket's tomb. Here lie the Black Prince beneath his copper effigy and King Henry IV, the only monarch buried in the cathedral, and on the pavement between them burns the candle marking where the shrine stood.
The swords of the Martyrdom, and the candle where the shrine stood · photos CC0 Andy Li and CC BY 2.0 Jules & Jenny, Wikimedia Commons
THE COMMEMORATION FOUND NOWHERE ELSE
The Feast of Thomas Becket · 29 December 2026
Each year on 29 December, the day of the murder, the cathedral keeps the feast of its martyr with a candlelit evening service. The congregation light their candles and process from the quire to the Martyrdom itself, standing where the swords fell at Vespers in 1170, with readings from T. S. Eliot's Murder in the Cathedral, the play the cathedral commissioned in 1935. The cathedral also keeps the Translation of St. Thomas on 7 July, the day in 1220 when his relics were carried in glory to the Trinity Chapel; the next falls on 7 July 2027.
The candlelit commemoration fills the cathedral, so arrive early; attending any service is always free.
Plan your visit
By rail
High-speed trains from London St Pancras reach Canterbury West in about 50 to 55 minutes; Canterbury East also serves the city.
On foot
From either station it is a short walk through the old city lanes to Christ Church Gate and the Precincts.
Timings
Visiting Mon to Sat 10 am to 5 pm, Sun 12:30 to 5 pm; last admission 4 pm daily.
Entry
Adult tickets from £18, valid a full year with unlimited returns; children 17 and under free with a paying adult (up to two per adult). No charge to attend any service.
Worship
Holy Communion daily 8 am; Sung Eucharist Sunday 11 am; Evensong daily 5:30 pm, sung by the cathedral choir most evenings.
Best time
A weekday opening hour is quietest for the nave and crypt; return at 5:30 pm to hear the choir at Evensong.
A sightseeing ticket is valid for 365 days with unlimited return visits, so one ticket covers a whole year of Canterbury.
On Sundays the church itself opens to visitors at 12:30 pm; between 11:30 and 12:30 access is limited to the grounds and shop.
The 1988 UNESCO World Heritage Site also includes the ruins of St. Augustine's Abbey and St. Martin's Church, the oldest church in England in continuous use, both a short walk away.
The cathedral's formal name is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ, Canterbury; it has been called England in stone.
Questions pilgrims ask
Can I still see Becket's shrine?
No. Henry VIII had the shrine destroyed in 1538 and the gold and jewels carried off. Its site in the Trinity Chapel is marked by a single burning candle on the pavement, ringed by the medieval Miracle Windows that show the healings once worked at the tomb.
Do I have to pay to go in?
Sightseeing visits are ticketed, from £18 for adults with under-18s free alongside a paying adult. Attending any service of worship is free, with no booking needed; simply say you are coming to the service.
What is Evensong, and can anyone attend?
Evensong is the sung evening prayer of the Anglican tradition, about 40 minutes of psalms, canticles and anthems, sung at 5:30 pm daily, choral on most evenings. Everyone is welcome and it costs nothing.
Where exactly was Becket killed?
In the north-west transept, now called the Martyrdom, as the monks sang Vespers on 29 December 1170. A modern sculpture of jagged swords by Giles Blomfield hangs above the place, and the daily 29 December commemoration processes there by candlelight.
Is this really the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury?
Yes. The cathedral holds the cathedra, the seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is enthroned here and is the spiritual head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Canterbury has been the senior see of the English Church since Augustine in 597.
The Sthan in photographs
Darshan from afar
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Dharamshalas and guest houses near this Sthan, shared by devotees. Adisthan takes no bookings and no money; contact each stay directly.
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Are you of the Dean and Chapter of Canterbury or the cathedral's visits and worship teams? Claim this page to keep service times, admission and the Becket commemorations true for every pilgrim on the road to Canterbury.
