Cathedral graffiti tells forgotten stories

May and June mark your last chance to attend Canterbury Cathedral’s Historic Graffiti tours.

The tours are running as part of the historic graffiti project which was started in 2018 to record the historical graffiti that can be found throughout the Cathedral.

Ellie Rye, Visits Volunteer Manager at Canterbury Cathedral said: “They show us how the Cathedral has always been a living building that has been used in different ways and visited by different people for different reasons.”

“Graffiti has negative associations today but what we have at the Cathedral would have been viewed very differently then. There are different types of graffiti from different periods of time and shows us how life has changed over the last 800 years.”

The graffiti tours are once a month. with the final two being on the 15th of May and 26th of June between 13:15 and 14:30 and will cost £5 per person alongside admission charge.

Led by a volunteer guide, visitors will be shown a range of graffiti sites in the Eastern Crypt, Quire and Trinity Chapel.

Rye explained: “There are religious symbols that have specific meanings as well as a couple of names scratched into the wall where we know who they are. Our largest graffiti though are enormous religious scenes of people.”

The Cathedral has a range of tours for those who are looking to learn about Canterbury’s history, such as regular medieval stained glass tours around Thomas Beckett, with this month hosting a tour to mark the 80th anniversary of VE day.

More information can be found on their website.