Fodor's Expert Review Christchurch Gate
This huge gate, built in 1517, leads into the cathedral close. As you pass through, look up at the sculpted heads of two young figures: Prince Arthur, elder brother of Henry VIII, and the young Catherine of Aragon, to whom Arthur was married in 1501 (when he was just 15). He died shortly afterwards, and Catherine married Henry. Jump forward 25 years, and Henry was king. But they had produced no male children, a fact Henry attributed to God's wrath for marrying his sister-in-law. The Pope refused to grant him a divorce, but Henry went ahead and did it anyway, creating an irrevocable breach with the Roman Catholic Church and altering the course of English history forever.
Outside the gate is the tiny Buttermarket, an old dairy market square with a sweet name and an unsavoury past. Before the 16th century, it was called "the Bullstake," because animals were tied here and tortured (a popular activity of the time known as "baiting") before they were slaughtered. Today, it's surrounded... READ MORE
This huge gate, built in 1517, leads into the cathedral close. As you pass through, look up at the sculpted heads of two young figures: Prince Arthur, elder brother of Henry VIII, and the young Catherine of Aragon, to whom Arthur was married in 1501 (when he was just 15). He died shortly afterwards, and Catherine married Henry. Jump forward 25 years, and Henry was king. But they had produced no male children, a fact Henry attributed to God's wrath for marrying his sister-in-law. The Pope refused to grant him a divorce, but Henry went ahead and did it anyway, creating an irrevocable breach with the Roman Catholic Church and altering the course of English history forever.
Outside the gate is the tiny Buttermarket, an old dairy market square with a sweet name and an unsavoury past. Before the 16th century, it was called "the Bullstake," because animals were tied here and tortured (a popular activity of the time known as "baiting") before they were slaughtered. Today, it's surrounded by bars and restaurants and leads onto pretty Mercery Lane, with its medieval-style cottages and massive, overhanging timber roofs.
READ LESS
