The old, the very old and the very very old…

A most enjoyable day in Canterbury. We had tickets to the annual Christmas concert by St Agnes Fountain in the Cathedral Lodge in the Cathedral Precinct. Well worth a listen for a different take on Christmas songs and carols.

As we were travelling down for the evening we decided to make a day, looking around the Christmas market and doing a bit of shopping. I say “day”, it was gone 1pm by the time I’d been for a run, had a blood test and we’d had brunch and driven down there.

Now to explain the title. The Christmas market is old, having been held in the Precinct for 600 years until 1813 when it was suspended for riotous behaviour. This is the first year since 1813 that a market has been held in the Precinct.

A Christmas market has been held in other parts of the city for many years. The stalls were the same as you would find in any Christmas market in the UK.

The Cathedral, of course, is older. However, it is not as old as St Martin’s Church, the extra, which is regarded as the mother church for the cathedral. St Martin’s is said to be the oldest church in the English speaking world.

St Martin's Church was originally built in Roman times around AD 300. Parts of the Roman walls still remain to be seen. In 597 it was St Augustine's first base for his successful mission to bring the good news of Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons.

The church was given in the late 6th century by the pagan King Ethelbert of Kent to his French bride Bertha, who was a Christian, for her use as a place of worship. So, it is very very old yet doesn’t get the same footfall at the mighty and younger cathedral.

Before St Agnes Fountain we had a great meal at Pho, low carb where cauliflower rice was an option to go with an excellent curry.