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Canterbury Cathedral as the Visitor First Sees' It
Modern visitors get their first full impression of th.e Cathedral 'as -they ,pass
under Christ Church gateway. In Chaucer's days, [!eople miule regular
pilgrimages from Southwark
to
,Canterbury
on
horseback at a "p',rice of
twelve pence per head.] to visit Becket's shrine.
Elizabethan period and received per–
mission to worship in Emulf's Crypt.
Also in the Crypt is the Chapel of
Our Lady of the Undercroft which,
deserted since 1538, has been repaired
and is again used for worship.
Many social functions cOnIiected
with the life of the Cathedral take
place in the Chapter .House, whi-ch
was used daily duririg medieval times
I'll
the Cathedral Li@rary
.,
The Dean admires a. ,rare "!olume. , The librarian, 'Mr-., mor.e,_stands by.
He
is in
charge of ·many priceless manuscripts" inCluding the
~nglo-Saxon
Oharters and WiUiam'the Conqueror's signature. The library 'is open to
the public, and many students come here for research.
- '
by the Chapter for the discussion of
,o1JSiness. But at that time the Dean
had some forty canons to deal with
'~d
the present Chapter would be
lost in this large
hall. .
It provides
.,
,
?'
instead an excellenrsetting for miracle '
!\nd mystery plays and T. S. Eliot's'
"Murder in the Cathedral" has 'appro–
priately been performed there.
•The choir school-conSists of36:boys"
Visiting Artists in the Nave
There are many artists among the visitors.
A
group sits
in
the nave at the foot of the
pulpit (which
is
a , memorial
to
Dean Payne-
The Tomb of an Early Archbishop
48 Smith), sketching the stained glass windows.
On the east side oFSt. Michael's chapel is the tomb of
Stephen Langton, a 12th-century Archbishop. The
reredos behind was given by the officers and 'men of
the Buffs as a War Memorial.
I
The
Precentor, the Reverend
J.
W. Poole, helps
a server with his vestments. He
is
re~ponsible
for all Cathedral ceremonies, drills the choir,
and sees that vestments are in goc:id
~rde~