Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade I listed building. Main construction periods 1390 to 1411. Originally the Great Cloister to the monastery of Christ Church and partially destroyed in a great earthquake in 1382. The Cloister was rebuilt under Prior Chillenden (1391-1411). Further restoration work was carried out during most of the 19th century.

Monument Types

• CLOISTER (Medieval to Modern - 1390 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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Description from record TR 15 NE 72 :
Cloister to Christchurch Cathedral. Grade A. Originally the Great Cloister to the monastery of Christchurch, rebuilt under Prior Chillenden (1390-1411). (1) (TR 15065795) Great Cloister [NR]. (2)

The Canterbury UAD states that;
The Great Cloister is set immediately to the north of the Cathedral and was a place of rest, study and meditation for the monks of the Priory, it was the centre of monastic life.

It was originally a Norman structure consisting of an arcade running around a large square, with a lean-to pentise roof and is shown clearly on Wibert's 12th century plan of the Cathedral's waterworks (drawn c. 1153-1170), which also shows a Water Tower in the middle of the north side of the cloister. This was replaced by a 13th century Cloister, of which extensive traces can still be seen on the north and east sides. A beautiful doorway, one of the best pieces of Gothic architecture in the Cathedral complex, (damaged by 15th century builders), opens into the Martyrdom. It is through a door on this site that Archbishop Becket entered the Cathedral on 29th December 1170 to subsequently be murdered.

Between 1390 and 1411, the present Great Cloister was rebuilt by Prior Chillenden. The alley next to the Cathedral was built first, mainly with a bequest from Archbishop Arundel. For the next stage it was the gentry who contributed funds for the rebuilding, the shields of the many contributors to the costs, 825 in all, are emblazoned on the vaulting above the cloister, with a unique display of heraldry. The south wall of the south walk, was built at the same time as the nave of the cathedral. The west walk was started in 1397. The south walk was glazed in the late 15th century; for this was where the novices were taught. In the west walk is a stone bench for the monks tio rest on, ending at the north with a stone seat with arms, by it is a contemporary doorway to the cellarer's lodging, with a 'turn' (a hatch for serving food and beer to unseen exhausted monks) next to it. There are similar doorways at the south end. The north cloister walls are Early English, rebuilt when the refectory north of it was reconstructed in 1226-36, there are doorways to the refectory in the centre and east end.

Opposite the main doorway was the Lavatorium, where the monks washed between meals. The several doorways in the east walk give acess to other area of the precincts; to the north end a 12th century one opens to the dormitory undercroft (now the library); beyond this a perpendicular doorway leads to the dark Entry; next ios the Chapter House doorway built in 1304-5; a second perpendicular doorway leads to the slype and finally the Great Monk's Doorway, probably dated c. 1270, leads into the north transept. The monks reached the choir from their dormitory by way of the NE transept. The Archbishop coming from his palace also regularly used this doorway.

From the Reformation onwards, the cloister was used as a burial ground. The tombstone were removed however, during the early part of the twentieth century. (3, 4, 5)

In 2012 archaeological excavation was carried out during works associated with the installation of light boxes around the cloister. Although the excavated areas were small they nonetheless produced interesting new information.

Pre-Norman remains were found, comprising flint-rich soils perhaps representing a gravelled area, overlain by soils. Cutting them were masonry remains interpreted as cloister arcade wall foundations of the Lanfranc-period structure (c. 1071–77). The foundations suggested that the garth may have been slightly narrower, east–west, than the structure which stands today.

The Great Cloister wasprobably rebuilt in the mid twelfth century. Along the north side, lengths of wall were identified which are thought to have been associated with this construction phase, together with remains interpreted as forming part of the water tower/fountain known to have stood towards the north.

The Great Cloister was rebuilt under Prior Chillenden (1397–1414) to form the structure
which stands today. Late fourteenth-/early fifteenth-century arcade wall foundations were
revealed during the excavation work, together with probable construction deposits. Two
stone-built structures, possibly drains, identified in the north-west and north-east corners of
the garth may have been associated with this period of work.(6)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:

856/5/1A THE CATHEDRAL PRECINCTS
03-DEC-49 CLOISTER TO CHRISTCHURCH CATHEDRAL
GV I
Revision Number: 2
{THE} {CATHEDRAL} PRECINCTS
1.
{9Jjij}
Cloister to {Christchurch}
Cathedral
{m15571A1} 5/1A {),12.49.}
A
2.
This was originally the Great Cloister to the monastery of Christ Church,
Rebuilt under Prior Chulendm (1390-1411). Lierne vaults with very fine
heraldic bosses.
Listing NGR: TR1504857960 (7)

Historic England archive materil: AL2400/111/01 View of arches in Canterbury Cathedral's Great Cloister

<1> DOE (HHR) City of Canterbury Kent Sept 1973 61-2 (OS Card Reference). SKE40120.

<2> OS 1:1250 1972 (OS Card Reference). SKE48184.

<3> John Newman, 1969, The Buildings of England: North East and East Kent (Monograph). SKE7874.

<4> Blockley, K., Sparks, M. & Tatton-Brown, T., 1997, Canterbury Cathedral Nave, Archaeology, History and Architecture (Monograph). SKE29723.

<5> Willett, C., 1960, Canterbury Cathedral A Pictorial Guide (Monograph). SKE29722.

<6> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2012, Canterbury Cathedral, Great Cloister, Canterbury, Kent, Excavation report (Unpublished document). SKE52011.

<7> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

Sources and further reading

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