CanterburyShore, W. Teignmouth (William Teignmouth)
History
Canterbury
Shore, W. Teignmouth (William Teignmouth)
Canterbury (England) -- Description and travel
the Blee in Canterbury way.” Turning along the London Road to the left,
the road to Whitstable running right ahead, we soon found ourselves
leaving the main road by a small lane, the Canterbury end of the famous
Pilgrims’ Way from Winchester. How ancient this track may be no man
knows; but it was in existence long before pilgrimages were dreamed of,
before Christianity had come to the country, being utilised probably for
the conveyance of metals and merchandise from the west to the east. Soon
we have clambered through the mud to the summit of a little hill, from
which we gain a wide view of the surrounding country. Before us stands
out Bigberry Wood, with its ancient camp; turning to the left, on either
side the mill, whose sails are at rest, we see Canterbury spread out in
the broad valley, which to the eyes of the earliest wayfarers by this
route presented a desolate scene of marsh and woodland. Turning to our
right there are the hop fields, with gaunt bare poles; the red roofs of
Sidney Cooper’s home; and, farther round, Harbledown and the Hospital of
St Nicholas. We go on down the slippery descent, until we reach a
brawling stream, spanned by a small wooden bridge; keeping to our right,
through the hop field, we soon find a path clambering up toward the
hospital, and suddenly before us the stone archway covering the well
known by the name of the Black Prince. Primroses are peeping forth out
of the abundant winter foliage; but for some reason we cannot call up
much interest in this well, ancient though it be, perhaps because of the
falsity of the story that connects it with the Black Prince. A few yards
higher and we find ourselves behind the long, low building of the
hospital, and then we stand within what we may call the precincts. This
lazar house was founded by the busy Lanfranc, and the west door of the
church is Norman work. The interior of this edifice is well worth
visiting; there is about it--though restored--a savour of old-world days
and a pathos of suffering, as we think of the leprous men and women who
have worshipped here long days ago. The Norman carving on some of the
pillars is good, and the roof a fine example of the strength of old
work. In the chancel are some old seats, and some benches older still in
the body of the church. Old--how old! echoes through our mind as we
stand here, and again as we lay our hands on the ancient gnarled tree in
the churchyard; how old it all is, this church set high upon the hill,
overlooking a vast stretch of valleys and uplands. What sights has this
old tree looked down upon, what sounds heard--troops marching by to the
war, pilgrims marching by to the shrine of St Thomas (for we are looking
down on the road to London). How the coaches toiled up these hills a
century ago. And even as we listen, we hear the rush and trumpeting of a
motor-car.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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