"Canterbury, more than a cathedral " a Canterbury Travel Page by hindu1936

In 597CE, Pope Gregory ordered Augustine to make a mission to England to convert the people to Christianity. Augustine was put in charge of a church at Canterbury called St. Martins. The ruler of Kent, King Ethelbert was married to a Christian who was also a french princess. It was Bertha who demanded that Augustine be treated with respect. Out of this pledge for cooperation, Augustine drew the resources to build the first cathedral. Since then, the church has never closed for services, so for 1400 years there have been services there. Canterbury became the seat of the church in England and the Archbishop wielded great power.
One of the archbishops was Thomas A. Beckett, a friend of King Henry

Even during the time of King Henry VIII, who opposed catholicism, there were still services.

Parts of the cathedral have been allowed to remain in a state of disrepair caused by WWII attacks by the German forces.

Not far from the cathedral there are restaurants, tourist shops, and agents offering punt trips down the canals. This particular photo shows some of the restored homes. I suppose this is photographed as often as the church and with the same reason: it's different, handy and picturesque, even if there weren't any boats at the time, it was still nice.