page_title: Canterbury Cathedral
section_title: 14th and 15th centuries
hierarchical_section_title: Canterbury Cathedral / History / Plantagenet period / 14th and 15th centuries
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Decke vom Vierungsturm der Canterbury-KathedraleEnglish: Roof of Bell Harry Tower, Canterbury Cathedral Wikidata has entry Q29265 with data related to this building.This is a photo of listed building number 1336823.
context_page_description: Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Its formal title is the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Christ at Canterbury.
  Founded in 597, the cathedral was completely rebuilt between 1070 and 1077. The east end was greatly enlarged at the beginning of the 12th century and largely rebuilt in the Gothic style following a fire in 1174, with significant eastward extensions to accommodate the flow of pilgrims visiting the shrine of Thomas Becket, the archbishop who was murdered in the cathedral in 1170. The Norman nave and transepts survived until the late 14th century when they were demolished to make way for the present structures.
  Before the English Reformation the cathedral was part of a Benedictine monastic community known as Christ Church, Canterbury, as well as being the seat of the archbishop.
context_section_description: Early in the 14th century, Prior Eastry erected a stone quire screen and rebuilt the chapter house, and his successor, Prior Oxenden inserted a large five-light window into St Anselm's chapel.
  The cathedral was seriously damaged by an earthquake of 1382, losing its bells and campanile.
  From the late 14th century the nave and transepts were rebuilt, on the Norman foundations in the Perpendicular style under the direction of the noted master mason Henry Yevele. In contrast to the contemporary rebuilding of the nave at Winchester, where much of the existing fabric was retained and remodeled, the  piers were  entirely removed, and replaced with less bulky Gothic ones, and the old aisle walls were completely taken down except for a low "plinth" left on the south side. More Norman fabric was retained in the transepts, especially in the east walls, and the old apsidal chapels were not replaced until the mid-15th century. The arches of the new nave arcade were exceptionally high in proportion to the clerestory. The new transepts, aisles, and nave were roofed with lierne vaults, enriched with bosses. Most of the work was done during the priorate of Thomas Chillenden (1391–1411): Chillenden also built a new quire screen at the east end of the nave, into which Eastry's existing screen was incorporated. The Norman stone floor of the nave, however, survived until its replacement in 1786.
  From 1396 the cloisters were repaired and remodeled by Yevele's pupil Stephen Lote who added the lierne vaulting. It was during this period that the wagon-vaulting of the chapter house was created.
  A shortage of money and the priority given to the rebuilding of the cloisters and chapterhouse meant that the rebuilding of the west towers was neglected. The south-west tower was not replaced until 1458, and the Norman north-west tower survived until  1834 when it was replaced by a  replica of its Perpendicular companion.
  In about 1430 the south transept apse was removed to make way for a chapel, founded by Lady Margaret Holland and dedicated to St Michael and  All Angels. The north transept apse was replaced by a Lady Chapel, built-in 1448–1455.
  The 235-foot (72 m) crossing tower was begun in 1433, although preparations had already been made during Chillenden's priorate when the piers had been reinforced. Further strengthening was found necessary around the beginning of the 16th century when buttressing arches were added under the southern and western tower arches.  The tower is often known as the "Angel Steeple", after a gilded angel that once stood on one of its pinnacles.
caption: Canterbury Cathedral, fan vaulting of the crossing
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