12 interesting facts about Canterbury in Kent

Long before cathedral spires defined the skyline, Canterbury was the Roman town of Durovernum Cantiacorum. Parts of the Roman street grid, city walls, and archaeological remains still shape the modern centre, which is why walking through Canterbury can feel unusually layered — its medieval lanes often follow much older urban lines.

Canterbury’s World Heritage status doesn’t rest on the cathedral alone. UNESCO inscribed Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey, and St Martin’s Church together because, as a group, they illustrate the reintroduction of Christianity to southern England and the city’s exceptional religious importance from the late sixth century onward into the Middle Ages.

In 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket was murdered inside Canterbury Cathedral by four knights who believed they were acting for Henry II. His death shocked medieval Europe, and the shrine that later rose over his tomb turned Canterbury into one of Christendom’s major pilgrimage destinations until Henry VIII ordered its destruction in 1538.

For centuries, Canterbury wasn’t only spiritually important — it was commercially transformed by pilgrimage. Streams of travellers needed food, lodgings, souvenirs, guides, and worship spaces, so inns, markets, and religious institutions prospered around the cathedral precinct. Much of the city’s medieval character makes more sense once you remember it grew around movement as much as devotion.

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales gave the city a literary afterlife that far outlasted the Middle Ages. Written in the late 14th century, the work follows pilgrims travelling to Becket’s shrine and helped fix Canterbury in the English imagination as a place where faith, storytelling, and social observation all meet.

Approaching the old town from the west, you pass through a structure that once controlled entry to medieval Canterbury. Westgate Towers, built in the 14th century, is widely described as the largest surviving medieval gateway in England. It’s a reminder that Canterbury was not just a pilgrimage city, but also a defended one.

A short walk from the center stands St Martin’s Church, recognized as the oldest church in England still in use as a parish church. Its importance reaches beyond age alone: Queen Bertha is said to have worshipped here before Augustine’s mission, linking the site to the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England.

In 1830, Canterbury became home to the world’s first regular passenger steam railway service, known as the Canterbury and Whitstable Railway. Locally nicknamed the "Crab and Winkle Line," it carried both passengers and local goods between the inland city and the coastal harbour town of Whitstable.

Canterbury’s historic appearance can make it seem untouched, but the city was heavily affected by the Baedeker Blitz in 1942. Bombing damaged large areas of the centre, destroyed buildings, and forced difficult reconstruction choices after the war. That’s why today’s streetscape mixes surviving medieval fabric with distinctly postwar architecture and planning.

Established in 597 AD alongside the cathedral by Saint Augustine, The King’s School in Canterbury is widely recognised as the oldest continuously operating school in the world. It has educated notable figures over the centuries, seamlessly blending ancient heritage with a modern educational curriculum.

The beloved British children's comic character Rupert Bear was created by Canterbury resident Mary Tourtel in 1920 for the Daily Express. Today, the local Beaney House of Art & Knowledge museum features artwork and exhibits dedicated to celebrating the history of the famed cartoon character.

Despite its small population and historic atmosphere, Canterbury is a thriving contemporary student hub. Home to the University of Kent, Canterbury Christ Church University, and the University for the Creative Arts, the city boasts one of the highest ratios of university students to permanent residents in the UK.