Tag: Canterbury

Canterbury Cathedral, December 2025

In December I visited Canterbury Cathedral.

Canterbury Cathedral, sketched 16th December 2025 in Sketchbook 16

I was sketching the cathedral from the south west. The Tower in the centre of my sketch dates from 1478. The Trinity and Corona chapels on the right of the picture were built in 1175 and 1184. The magnificent nave, under the grey roof in the centre of my sketch, was built in 1377-1405. The cathedral was founded in 597 by St Augustine.

The horse in the foreground of my drawing is the “Canterbury War Horse”. It is made of pieces of wood, offcuts donated by the local fencing business, Jacksons. It was created in November 2018, marking Armistice Day, and the centenary of the end of the 1914-18 conflict.

Image and text from the website of Jacksons Fencing, Kent

The days are short in December and the light was fading while I was sketching.

I managed to get the pen and ink done sitting on the bench outdoors, and added the colour at my desk.

The bench commemorated the lives of George and Lilian Culmar, 1912 -1985.

It was a wonderful experience to sit calmly on this bench and contemplate the cathedral, as night fell.

Sketchbook 16

Canterbury Cathedral Cloisters

There’s a lot of restoration work going on at Canterbury Cathedral at the moment. The ceiling of the main nave was covered up, and one of the towers was wrapped in scaffolding. Also, it being Sunday, a part of the nave was occupied, reasonably enough, with a service. There was much to see, notably the quiet and dimly lit crypt, where there are huge strong pillars, marvellous mathematical curves and stone carvings which delighted the medievalist amongst us.

 

A row of pillars
A tomb in the crypt
Stairs back up to the nave
A view towards an altar in the crypt
Pointing out the medieval carving

I drew a picture from the cloisters.

IMG_3821

It was perhaps unwise to start drawing those ogee* arches with their crocketing**, but I accepted the challenge. The building in the background is The Old Palace, which is the main residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It was built between 1193 and 1228, and has been modified and restored since, most recently in 2006.

I drew this picture sitting on the stone surrounds of the cloisters.

IMG_3815

Here are some maps to show where I was drawing.

 

Here is work in progress. The drawing took an hour, pen and ink and watercolour on location.

 

*ogee arches are arches with those fine points

**crocketing is the series of knobs which are often seen on spires and arches of gothic style buildings