Trinity Chapel

Trinity Chapel in Canterbury Cathedral forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The chapel was added by William the Englishman as a shrine for the relics of St. Thomas Becket. The shrine became one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in England.

Thomas Becket

at this place to commemorate Becket's martyrdom and the translation of his body from his first burial place to this chapel.

The Black Prince

Over time other significant burials took place in this area such as Edward Plantagenet (the Black Prince). He was buried on the south side of the shrine of Thomas Becket behind the quire. His tomb consists of a bronze effigy beneath a tester depicting the Holy Trinity, with his heraldic achievements hung over the tester. The achievements have now been replaced by replicas, though the originals can still be seen nearby, and the tester was restored in 2006.

King Henry IV

Also buried there is King Henry IV. Unusually for a King of England, he was buried not at Westminster Abbey but at Canterbury Cathedral, on the north side of Trinity Chapel as near to the shrine of Thomas Becket as possible. Becket's cult was then at its height, as evidenced in the "Canterbury Tales", and Henry was particularly devoted to it (he was anointed at his coronation with oil supposedly given to Becket by the Virgin Mary, which had then passed to Henry's father). [Debbi Codling, Henry IV and Personal Piety, History Today, 57:1 (January 2007), pages 23 - 29.] Henry was given an alabaster effigy, alabaster being a valuable English export in the 15th century. His body was well embalmed, as a Victorian exhumation some centuries later established [( [http://nq.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/s9-IX/228/369-c ANTIQUARY s9-IX (228): 369. (1902)] ).]

The Crona Tower

The Corona Tower was built at the eastern end of the chapel to contain the relic of the crown of St. Thomas's head which was struck off during his murder.

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