Canterbury Cathedral, inside

As promised, here is my second post on Canterbury Cathedral (the first can be read here).

The building is even more impressive on the inside. 

This photo of the stained glass is slightly wonky, but I wanted to show you it, as its rather unique. The figures all look too Disney for my taste, according to a volunteer at the Cathedral, they were created by a Hungarian Jew who came to Britain after feeling from the Nazis.

There are a couple of royals buried at Canterbury, Henry IV (also known as Henry Bolingbroke, who usurped the throne) and Edward the Black Prince, pictured below.  

I vaguely remember been told at a lecture that there is new evidence to suggest that Edward was known as the Black Prince not for his armour, as it is commonly believed,  but for his complexion as he was biracial. Unfortunately I don't have the source for this, so I don't know if this is a credible theory or not.

This sculpture marks the site of the martyrdom of Thomas Beckett. I watched a programme on the Plantagenets (its still available on BBC iplayer) and to be quite honest Thomas Becket didn't sound like a particularly nice man.

He fell out with King Henry II because he wanted priests to be judged in ecclesiastical court, which would mean that priests would only lose their jobs for crimes like rape or murder, (which isn't strong enough punishment in my book). So Thomas and Henry had a big argument and the King apparently implied to his knights that he wanted  rid of the archbishop. The knights took Henry at his word and sliced the top of Thomas' head off in the Cathedral.
 

If you have the time, I strongly suggest you visit the Cathedral on a weekday, we went on a Thursday and look how empty it is!

If your a UK tax payer for around an extra pound you can upgrade your tickets to free entry for a year. Whatever you do though- don't try and protect your tickets by putting them in a laminator, the ink will run and you'll be left with an unreadable mess, learnt this the hard way.