Epic England - Day 2: In the footsteps of Thomas Becket and Henry VIII

After a good night's rest at the Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, we booked a guided tour through the world famous, steeped-with-history Canterbury Cathedral,  the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the leader of the Church of England, and also the symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. 

The current Gothic styled cathedral dates back to the 12th Century, but there has been a Christian cathedral on this specific spot since 597, so it was a pretty amazing feeling walking on this site, that has been an important spiritual place for so many centuries!

The north-west transept of the cathedral was the scene of the brutal murder of archbishop Thomas Becket on 29 December 1170. 

After being friends for a very long time, King Henry II and Thomas Becket had a Crown vs. Church conflict that lasted many years. When one day the king exclaimed in frustration, "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?", some of his knights took that quite literally and murdered Becket in his own cathedral, smearing his brains over the floor (yes, really :-S). 

The door through which Thomas Becket fled to the church, thinking his attackers wouldn't defile sacred ground with murder...

The place where Thomas Becket was murdered, now known as The Martyrdom

Because Thomas Becket was murdered for his religious beliefs, his tomb in Canterbury Cathedral soon became a place of pilgrimage, making the cathedral very famous and very wealthy. Unfortunately however, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries King Henry VIII ordered the shrine to be removed, and Becket's tomb, along with his remains, were thrown in the river, never to be seen again....

The candle on the ground marks the place where the shrine of Thomas Becket stood

The Cathedral gets pleasantly filtered light through the most amazing stained glass windows. I always love looking at them, they are such amazing works of art!

The tomb of the Black Prince

Canterbury Cathedral is also the final resting place of Edward the Black Prince. This legendary Prince of Wales, son of King Edward III, was one of the key players during the Hundred Years' War.  His famous victories over the French during the  Battles of Crécy and Poitiers proved him to be an extraordinary military leader, but he is also one of the founding members of the Order of the Garter, now the highest order of chivalry in England!

This baby leopard is photobombing the Black Prince

We ended our tour with a walk through the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral, which are also very much worth a visit, because it offers a great opportunity to better appreciate the architecture on the outside of the cathedral! 

After the extensive and informative guided tour, we continued our journey with an hour-long drive around the south of London, to.....

.... Hampton Court Palace, famous as the court of King Henry VIII (and his six wives). As a lifelong fan of all things Tudor this was a dream come true!

The red brick walls (a shiny new invention at that time) are very noticeable from the distance, and give that distinctive 'Tudor' feel to the place. Hampton Court Palace is situated in Kingston-upon-Thames, in the Southwest corner of the greater London area, so it is also a great alternative visit during a trip to London! 

The palace was originally built for Thomas Wolsey, who was Archbishop of York and Henry VIII's Chief Minister (brilliantly portrayed by Sam Neill in Showtimes TV series The Tudors, a must-watch for any Tudor fan!), who gave it to Henry in 1528 in an attempt to regain the King's favor. 

Sam Neill as Cardinal Wolsey and Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as King Henry VIII in The Tudors

During his reign, Henry commissioned the building of the Great Hall, which has an exquisite carved hammer-beam roof. The hall was the most important room of the palace, and the King would dine here seated at a table upon a raised platform. Henry VIII also added the Royal Tennis Court to the Palace, which is now still used by the 450 members (among them the Earl of Wessex) of the Hampton Court Real Tennis Club.

Close-up of a gilded ceiling in the palace

What many people don't know is that apart from a Tudor palace, half of Hampton Court Palace is actually in baroque style. At the request of William of Orange and Queen Mary II it was largely rebuilt at the end of the 17th century by the most eminent architect or the time, Sir Christopher Wren. So when you visit Hampton Court Palace, you basically get two palaces for the price of one ;-) 

But for us that was not all that was included in the price of our tickets, because on the day we visited we could also enjoy the many stands (and free food!) during the BBC Good Food Festival in the palace gardens, which was a lot of fun, even more so thanks to the nice weather!

After a quick (alright, not so quick, actually a rather extensive) visit to the gift shop, we drove to our hotel for the night, the Warren Lodge Hotel in Shepperton. Although the rooms are rather small, and it is difficult to find a parking spot, this hotel is definitely worth its money, because it is beautifully located on the bank of the river Thames. 

At the end of August, autumn was already showing its colors. That is why I love this photo, definitely one of my favorites of this holiday! This was a great place to unwind after a busy day full of new experiences.