Greyfriars Chapel

Tiny 13th-century chapel built over the Stour, first Franciscan house in England

Reached through a small gate off Stour Street, Greyfriars Chapel is one of Canterbury's secret pleasures: a thirteenth-century stone chapel built on stone arches directly over a side channel of the River Stour, surrounded by a quiet walled garden. The interior is bare and tiny — a single room with a few benches and an altar — but the setting is unforgettable.

The garden is open most of the year; the chapel itself opens Wednesday to Saturday in summer. Combine with a walk along the river path to the Westgate, or simply sit on a bench by the water for ten minutes — it is one of the calmest spots in central Canterbury.

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A story
In 1224 a small group of Franciscan friars arrived in Canterbury — the first in England, sent by St Francis of Assisi himself before his death two years later. Within a few decades they had built a friary on a small island in the Stour, with a chapel literally straddling the river. Henry VIII dissolved the order in 1538 and most of the buildings were demolished, but the chapel survived because the river running underneath made it useful as a granary. It is the last working piece of England's first Franciscan house.