Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church
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How it came to be
In 597 Augustine, sent by Pope Gregory I, came to Canterbury and made St Martin's Church, where Queen Bertha already worshipped, the base of his mission. Bertha was a Christian Frankish princess, and her pagan husband King Æthelberht allowed her to practise her faith. The mission led to the king's conversion, and Augustine founded the cathedral the same year. St Martin's has been used for worship since the 6th century and is known as the oldest church still standing in the English-speaking world.
After a fire in 1067, Lanfranc rebuilt the cathedral between 1070 and 1077 with stone brought from France. On 29 December 1170 knights of King Henry II murdered Archbishop Thomas Becket inside the cathedral, and his canonisation made Canterbury a great centre of pilgrimage. The choir, badly damaged by fire in September 1174, was rebuilt under a French master mason, William of Sens.
In 1538 Becket's shrine was removed and its treasures carried off in two coffers and 26 carts. St Augustine's Abbey was largely destroyed during the Reformation. The three buildings were inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1988.
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