etc.

The city of Canterbury, originally an important station in Watling
Street, the _Durovernum_ of the Romans, was one of the earliest places
occupied by the Saxons, by whom it was named _Cantwarabyrig_, or "town
of the Kentish men," and made the capital of the Saxon kingdom of Kent,
and a royal residence. About 597 the abbey was founded by St. Augustine
and his royal convert King Ethelbert. Canterbury was then constituted
the seat of the primacy in England, a dignity it retains to this day.

At the period of the Norman Conquest the city was of considerable size,
and the castle, of which very little now remains, is reputed to be the
work of William the Conqueror. The cathedral was burnt down at least
twice before the present building was erected, but under the influence
of the Norman archbishops, Lanfranc and Anselm, the erection of the new
"Church of Christ" proceeded apace. But it was not until the end of the
twelfth century that the murder of Becket set the whole of Europe
ringing with excitement, and Canterbury rose at once into the front rank
as an ecclesiastical city and pilgrims' shrine.

At the time when Chaucer wrote his _Canterbury Tales_ the city was
surrounded by a strong wall with twenty-one towers and six gates. Of the
wall there are some remains in Broad Street; of the gates "West Gate,"
through which the pilgrims entered from London, is the only survivor.

Canterbury teems with interesting relics of the past, and weeks may be
spent in its old-world streets, where one is continually coming across
unexpected little bits of half-timber work, weather-beaten gables, and
grotesque oak carving. The cathedral, whose "Bell Harry" or central
tower seems to dominate the whole city, should be approached through
Mercery Lane, at the corner of which are some slight remains of
Chaucer's hostelry, "The Chequers of Hope." At the bottom of the lane
the cathedral close is entered by the famous Christ Church Gateway,
erected by Prior Goldstone in 1517. Once inside the close gate the
visitor gets some idea of the amazing beauty of the structure, which is
certainly unsurpassed by any other cathedral in the kingdom. The
building exhibits almost every style of architecture, from the Norman
work of William of Lens to the late Perpendicular of Prior Goldstone,
and yet the work of composition and design has been so exquisitely
carried out that there is no hint of any want of harmony in the
magnificent whole. The interior is n