This is usually the first close-up view that visitors get of the Cathedral when they entered The Precincts. It looks vast although in reality, from this point, it is only possible to see about half of its total length of around 540 feet (depending on whether you count buttresses or not). The main "Bell Harry" Tower rises to 235 feet and is located approximately in the centre of the building.

The Saxon Church that originally stood on this site was completely destroyed by fire in 1067 and then the Choir of the reconstructed Cathedral was also destroyed in another fire in 1174. Fortunately, despite the bombing of Canterbury in the Second World War, the Cathedral did survive. I have seen a 1975 estimate that gave the cost of building a Cathedral of this size as £100million. Whatever the possible cost, nothing would replace the living history of this particular building notwithstanding its main purpose as a place of worship.