Greyfriars Chapel — Attraction in Canterbury

Summer review - I do believe it's closed during the winter months. Anyway... I've been visiting Canterbury for many years, it was only recently I took my children for an exploration trip of the city. The first I heard of the Greyfriars chapel and gardens was during a river boat tour in which the guide pointed out the chapel and gave us an insight to its history. Immediately afterwards we took it upon ourselves to locate the area. I must say even with what I'd consider to be is a pretty good internal compass I still resorted to using Google maps! Our journey led us up an alleyway where we crossed a bridge next to a cafe - that also offered a type of boat tour - from here we entered the gardens. They are quite small and contained. The river flows to the side of the garden and the chapel seats above the river where it obviously once harnessed the rivers flow, for what I do not yet know. The chapel was closed, though I am unsure if you can publicly visit the chapel anyway. We took refuge in the gardens for some time enjoying the tranquility of the well groomed foliage around us, forgetting for a minute that we were at the centre of a bustling city on a summers day, my kids were overwhelmed with a small robin that flew in to make our acquaintance and kept us company for our stay. Unlike some the public parks of Canterbury, the gardens here weren't busy, nor littered with students. It was easy to be excited myself as I felt like i'd found a little treasure which had thus far escaped me. So to round it up, if you fancy a little time out, in a special place with some good history this is the place...

The lovely Greyfriars Chapel is within the Franciscan Gardens. To go in find: The Greyfriars Lodge 6 Stour St (next to the Abode Hotel car park) and go into the entrance next to the lodge. The Franciscan Gardens are ahead over the river. The Chapel is to the left before you cross the river. The chapel is what remains of a large stone friary built between 1267 and 1325, although the site was vested to the city as the Friars could not own property . The Franciscan order suffered badly from the Black Death in the mid 14th century and the friary closed with the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. Open from Easter until 30th September 2019 The times are 10:30 to 16:00 Monday to Saturday only Closed Sundays Closed over the winter. There is a service at 12:30 am every Wednesday – all welcome to the service. The Gate in Stour Street is opened at 12:00 to permit access to chapel for service only during...

Es otro de los escenarios más fotografiados de la ciudad, Greyfriars Chapel. Pero también tiene su historia.

Greyfriars fue el primer convento franciscano de Inglaterra. A partir de 1267, la casa de Canterbury se reconstruyó en piedra. Fue gracias a la donación de tierras del concejal John Digge, antiguo alguacil de Canterbury.

A partir de aquí se erigió el convento, cuya gran iglesia fue consagrada por el arzobispo Walter Reynolds en 1325.

Aquí estuvieron los monjes franciscanos hasta la reforma de Enrique VIII, cuando algunos fueron encarcelados y el...