Total length 522 ft. (inside, 514 ft.) Length of nave 178 ft. Width of nave 71 ft. Length of choir 180 ft. Height of nave 80 ft. Height of central tower 235 ft. Height of west tower 130 ft.
Nave (1378-1411), Prior Chillenden. Choir (1174-1184), William of Sens and English William. Choir-screen (1304-1305), Prior d'Estria. Towers of St. Andrew and Anselm, Prior Ernulf. Retro-choir and corona (1178-1184), English William. Crypt, west part (1070-1109), Lanfranc and Ernulf. Crypt, east part (1178-1184), English William. Central tower (1495), Prior Goldstone.
[Illustration PLAN OF CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL]
_St. Martin's Church_, traditionally said to be the oldest church in the kingdom, is certainly of great antiquity. A large number of Roman bricks are built up in the walls. It contains a stone coffin, in which it is said that Queen Bertha lies, the wife of King Ethelbert, converted by Augustine, but this is improbable. The font is Saxon, and it is, according to tradition, which is not very reliable, the font in which Ethelbert was baptised.
_St. Augustine's College_ for Missionaries was formerly the Monastery of St. Augustine. The earliest house was dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul, said to have been founded by Augustine. Dunstan enlarged it, and added the founder's name to the dedication. It became very rich and important. The buildings were destroyed by the Danes, but they arose again in greater glory, and at the dissolution of monasteries the house became a Royal palace. The buildings are well worthy of a visit.
_St. Dunstan's Church._ The _West Gate_, built by Archbishop Sudbury, _temp._ Richard II. _Holy Cross Church._ _St. Peter's Church._ _St. Thomas's Hospital_ for Entertainment of Pilgrims.
The remains of the old _Chequers Inn_ at the south-west corner of Mercery Lane, can be traced, and a portion of it is incorporated in the house known as Grafton House. There are some fine old houses in this street, anciently called _La Merceri_, each stone projecting outwards, so as almost to meet at the top, typical of an old English city street.
The city of Winchester, the ancient capital of England, the Caer Gwent of the Britons, the Venta Belgarum of the Romans, the Royal city of Alfred the Great and of William the Conqueror, was a place of vast importance in the annals of England. Under Cnut it was the capital of a kingdom stretching across the seas to Scandinavia, and under the Normans a large part of France was in subjection to it. Here kings were born and Royal weddings celebrated with great pomp in its grand Cathedral. If Royal patronage could have preserved the glories of ancient Winchester, it would have remained the capital of England; but London was the centre of the commercial activity of the country, and in the end Winchester was forced to yield supremacy to its more powerful rival.