Well, what can one say about this particular Parish Church! More, of course, than can be written here, so this time we will recount just the basic details of the Cathedral’s history.

Christ Church Cathedral was founded by St Augustine around the year 604, possibly in a Roman Church donated by King Ethelbert. Augustine appears to have rebuilt from scratch, reusing Roman materials. Over the next centuries, The Cathedral was enlarged, and possibly repaired due to Viking raids, especially in 1011 and 1012. In 1067, a disastrous fire destroyed the Anglo-Saxon building, and rebuilding was required.

Archbishop Lanfranc was appointed in 1070, and by 1077 a new, larger, Norman Cathedral was built, using Caen stone from Normandy.

On the 29th December 1170, Thomas Becket was murdered in the Cathedral. By 1173, He was a Saint, and a year later Henry II paid penance by being whipped by all the monks, while prostrated in front of Becket's Tomb. Also in 1174, fire destroyed the Quire. William of Sens was brought in to rebuild, but after he suffered a fall from scaffolding in 1179, William the Englishman completed the Quire in 1184, in the new Gothic style. This Quire survives to the present day.

Over the next 300 years, The pilgrim trade brought great wealth to the City. In 1377, the Norman Nave was demolished, and Henry Yevele oversaw the magnificent Perpendicular Nave we see today, finished in 1405 (He also found time to rebuild the City Wall and Gates, including the surviving Westgate!). New Cloisters were constructed, and Bell Harry Tower was finished by 1504, designed by John Wastell (The Bell pre-dated the Tower by 200 years). The North-West and South-West Towers, known respectively as "Arundal" and "Dunstan" look the same age; in fact Dunstan was finished about 1434, and Arundal was built in the 19th Century by Sir Gilbert Scott to look the same, replacing a surviving Tower from Lanfranc's Cathedral.

Anybody who lived and worked in the Cathedral and Precincts could appear in the Registers, from Archbishops to Gardeners, so don't overlook these in your research of Canterbury Ancestors.

St Dunstan died 988. Archbishop of Canterbury for 28 years and seven Monarchs' reigns.

Archbishop Anselm died 1109. Interred behind the Altar, St Anselm's Chapel.

King Henry IV "Henry Bolingbroke" died 1413. The first Lancastrian king, usurping the throne from his cousin, Richard II (Son of The Black Prince). Buried in a double tomb with his wife, Joan of Navarre (died 1437). The only Monarchs buried in the Cathedral.

Edward, The Black Prince died 1376. Eldest son of Edward III, and victor of the Battle of Crecy. Allegedly won his ostrich feathers emblem at the Battle. These, and his motto "Ich Dien" are still the badge of the Prince of Wales.

Archbishop Henry Chichele died 1443. Tomb has two effigies, The Archbishop in life, and his corpse below, as a reminder of human vanity.

Archbishop Simon Sudbury Beheaded on Tower Hill in 1381 during Wat Tyler's Peasants' Revolt. All but his head is buried in the Cathedral, the latter being on display at Sudbury Church, Suffolk.

Lt Henry Boswell Bennett died 31st May 1838 at the Battle of Bossenden Wood, Dunkirk, at the hands of "Sir William Courtenay". Buried in the Cloisters on the 2nd June, attended by 6000 spectators, and the ban on guns being fired was raised to afford full military honours. Memorial tablet on the North Wall of the Nave.

Somerset William Maugham died 1965. Novelist, Famous for works such as "The Moon and Sixpence", "Of Human Bondage", and "Ashenden". Interred in the King's School grounds.

And Finally...Archbishop Stephen Langton Author of the Magna Carta, moved out of the way in St Michael's Chapel (also known as The Warriors' Chapel) to make room for the very rich Lady Margaret Holland, (and both her husbands- John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset and son of John of Gaunt; and Thomas, Duke of Clarence, the brother of Henry V). Langton's head is inside, and his feet are outside the Cathedral, in what looks like a dog kennel!!