Almost thirty years have passed since I was last in Canterbury.  My memories of the city are few and fuzzy and only the magnificent cathedral stands out clearly when I try to recollect my previous visit.  A lovely late summer weekend of blue skies and warm sunshine was the perfect backdrop for my return recently.

The sheer number of buildings of outstanding historical and architectural importance in Canterbury is remarkable.  The cathedral, a World Heritage site and the mother church of Anglicanism, is, of course, a treasure and one of the most important religious buildings in the world.  I’ll be dedicating a future post to this extraordinarily beautiful and impressive work of art and faith.  It’s the appropriate and stunning starting point for anyone who loves historic buildings but the city has so much more to offer.  Medieval parish churches, ancient city walls (parts of which date to Roman times). and an extraordinary richness of vernacular architecture make Canterbury a place in which history lives and breathes very vividly.  I’m likely to visit many times in the years ahead and I’m already looking forward to what I’ll discover.