My visit to Canterbury Cathedral the weekend before last with my friend Tony was a really wonderful experience.

Canterbury – maybe you know it? Is a delightful and obviously very old town (the Cathedral is 1,400 years old or more) – the Old Town Wall circles about half of it and is made predominantly grey flint – that style (as well as old red bricks) can also be found in many of the quaint little cottages around generally narrow streets – it has very great old world charm and the Cathedral and much of its surrounds are clearly steeped in lots of history – very interesting if one takes time. It’s clever that so much modern innovation is built in without (at least for me) interfering with its’ historic charm.

The Cathedral Lodge where we stayed was built about twenty years ago soon after the present Dean came to Canterbury, it is within the compound of the Cathedral itself with the Deanery and some other very good looking houses many of which are still lived in privately although some are Offices, eg. for the Dean and his team. The Lodge has thirty-five rooms on two floors double and twin – each with a good bathroom but no singles – very comfortable and a modern dining room and a comfortable Library (also a very well set up conference hall which I saw but obviously didn’t feature in any of our activities). One wall of the dining room is glass and opens fully onto a smallish paved area and garden – great I should imagine when there is a lot of sunshine! Breakfast was the only meal that we ate in the lodge – it was the most delicious breakfast with just about anything one could reasonably imagine – this was punctuated on Sunday morning by a fire alarm because one of the inmates had been smoking illegally in their room – we were ushered out to another relatively near part of the Lodge complex and back in again very efficiently and reasonably quickly – when we got back to eat breakfast the kitchen did a complete re-cook of eggs, bacon and all the rest being unwilling to serve re-heated food. Management of the Lodge is ultimately in the remit of the Dean of the Cathedral and he seems quite justifiably very proud of it. It is quietly efficient, wholly unpretentious and is apparently used for gatherings of Anglican Clergy from all over the world as well as for Pilgrims (just like Tony and I and I never imagined myself referring to me as one of them!!).

The entrance to the Cathedral is literally “across the road” from the Lodge. Much of its’ outside is right now well covered with scaffolding and some cordoned off because of re-roofing – nonetheless this didn’t disguise or diminish the massive proportion and beauty of the place – it’s difficult to imagine how the original builders created something so enormous and complex without the equipment that would be used today. The building is made mostly of limestone which is said to harden over time – when new and softer it allows for easier carving – there are many very detailed carvings in it. Apparently, the limestone isn’t local and was lugged from two quarries in France (presumably by ox cart) – even more amazing! Today, stone is still sourced from the same quarries and is shaped before use in maintenance and restoration by a team of 25 regular Cathedral stonemasons.

On Sunday morning we went to a Sung Eucharist Service during which the organ and choir performed wonderfully but no singing from the congregation who were all Covid distanced- we had had to book in in advance. The Dean was present but didn’t play any part in that service – the Sermon was delivered by the Vice Dean who is a young woman from New Zealand – she did a great job! I am delighted to have attended this Service which for me was very memorable. On Sunday afternoon, we went back to have more of a look around which enabled an even better understanding of the sheer size and beauty of the place. The spot where Thomas a Beckett was murdered is clearly marked as are many historic Kings Queens and top brass of the Cathedral over many hundreds of years. We were particularly interested in what are called “The Bossanyi” stained glass windows – these were installed as late as 1960 to replace their predecessors which got blown out by the Nazis during the last war– there are four, two large and two small, all are in very striking colours depicting Hungarian and other refugees from the Nazi regime. The creator of these windows was Ervin Bossanyi – a Hungarian Jewish fellow who suffered with his family in both World Wars before establishing himself in London – he also has works in Washington among other places. Ervin Bossanyi’s son Jo – a delightful fellow (who is in his 90’s) lives with us here in Abbeyfield – obviously this made these remarkable works a particular point of interest to us. Jo’s parents are buried in one of the gardens of the Cathedral.

As I think you know, Tony and I clock in with YouTube to prayers at the Cathedral six days each week which are led by the Dean, Very Rev Dr Robert Willis – to deliver the prayers, he sits in the grounds of the Deanery, either in one of its several gardens, Fern, Herbaceous, Shrub, Orchard, Potting Shed, or in one of a number of greenhouses complete with tortoises, or the “farmyard” – this latter being filled with chickens of many breeds, a very impressive cockerel who crows regularly, ducks, a hen pheasant and a wonderful old boar pig called Winston, a mother sow called Clemmie and their many little piglets. The Dean sits among it all in the gardens, and in among the livestock on a straw bale under a tree in the farmyard often with a named cat or two (sometimes these try going up his cassock!!) and it is from there that he conducts the prayers, his has worked in quite a few of places around the world, is obviously well travelled and I guess is a theological scholar – his knowledge is deep and he is able to pray and speak very sensitively with a wonderfully wide knowledge and understanding both historic as well as current affairs and “in the now” – we are reminded of Saints days, important anniversaries, (eg UN International Translators Day!) and much, much more – the whole exercise is both enchanting and wonderfully informative and lasts for about 40 minutes – I recommend these prayers to anyone!