canterbury cathedral from the south.THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF
CANTERBURY
A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FABRIC
AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE
ARCHIEPISCOPAL SEE
BY HARTLEY WITHERS, B.A.
LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS 1897
First Edition December, 1896.
Second Edition, Revised, with many Additional Illustrations, May, 1897.
GENERAL PREFACE.
This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors to the greatEnglish Cathedrals with accurate and well illustrated guide books at apopular price. The aim of each writer has been to produce a work compiledwith sufficient knowledge and scholarship to be of value to the student ofarchæology and history, and yet not too technical in language for the useof an ordinary visitor or tourist.
To specify all the authorities which have been made use of in each casewould be difficult and tedious in this place. But amongst the generalsources of information which have been almost invariably found usefulare:—firstly, the great county histories, the value of which, especiallyin questions of genealogy and local records, is generally recognized;secondly, the numerous papers by experts which appear from time to time inthe transactions of the antiquarian and archæological societies; thirdly,the important documents made accessible in the series issued by the Masterof the Rolls; fourthly, the well-known works of Britton and Willis on theEnglish Cathedrals; and, lastly, the very excellent series of Handbooks tothe Cathedrals, originated by the late Mr. John Murray, to which thereader may in most cases be referred for fuller detail, especially inreference to the histories of the respective sees.
Gleeson White.
E. F. Strange.
Editors of the Series.
PREFACE.
Among authorities consulted in the preparation of this volume, the authordesires to name specially Prof. Willis’s “Architectural History ofCanterbury Cathedral” (1845), Dean Stanley’s “Historical Memorials ofCanterbury” (Murray, 1855, and fifth edition, 1868), “Canterbury,” by theRev. R.C. Jenkins (1880), and the excellent section devoted to Canterburyin Murray’s “Handbooks to the English Cathedrals, Southern Division,”wherein Mr. Richard John King brought together so much valuable matter, towhich reference has been made too often to be acknowledged in eachinstance. For permission to use this the publishers have to thank Mr. JohnMurray.
For the reproduction of the drawings of the various parts of theCathedral, and the arms on the title page, by Mr. Walter Tallent Owen, theeditors are greatly indebted to the artist, from whose volume, “Bits ofCanterbury Cathedral,” published by W.T. Comstock, New York, 1891, theyhave been taken. Others are taken from Charles Wild’s “Specimens ofMediæval Architecture,” and from Carter’s “Ancient Sculpture andPaintings.”
The illustrations from