Looking towards the Old Buttermarket on a late Summer Night 2016
The Buttermarket by Christ Church Gate in Canterbury is a space with deep historic roots, tied to the daily life of the medieval city, the Cathedral, and its bustling markets.
📜 Origins of the Buttermarket
The square immediately in front of Christ Church Gate, the grand entrance to Canterbury Cathedral, has long been a place of commerce and meeting.
By the 16th century, it was known as the Buttermarket because it was where dairy products — butter, milk, and cheese — were sold, alongside other local produce.
It was one of several market spaces in Canterbury, each with its own specialisation:
Mercery Lane for luxury cloth and goods,
Iron Bar Lane for metalwork,
The Buttermarket for dairy and provisions.
🏛 Connection to Christ Church Gate
The Buttermarket sits directly in front of the Christ Church Gate, built in the early 16th century (commissioned around 1517, in honour of Prince Arthur, elder brother of Henry VIII).
The square would have been the first impression for many pilgrims to St Thomas Becket’s shrine after their long journey — a place of both sacred anticipation and worldly trade.
Inns, taverns, and shops grew up around the square to cater to travellers, pilgrims, and townsfolk alike.
⚔ Historic Events
During the Dissolution of the Monasteries (1538–1540), the suppression of Becket’s cult transformed the area. Pilgrimage trade collapsed, but the Buttermarket remained a hub of local life.
Over the centuries, it was also the site of public punishments and proclamations. Stocks and pillories stood there, and crowds would gather to witness justice being carried out.
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the square was still lively with traders, street criers, and coach traffic passing to and from the Cathedral precincts.
🏨 The Inns and Shops
The Buttermarket was long surrounded by inns, such as the famous Christ Church Gate Inn and others that accommodated pilgrims and later visitors.
These gradually gave way to modern shops in the Victorian period, but the square has kept its role as a gathering place.
👻 Ghostly Associations
Local lore suggests that pilgrims, denied their access to Becket’s shrine after Henry VIII’s men destroyed it, still linger in spirit around the Buttermarket, searching for entry through Christ Church Gate.
Visitors sometimes speak of feeling a chill in the square at night, with ghostly murmurs said to echo from the gate itself.
🌍 The Buttermarket Today
Today, the Buttermarket is a pedestrianised square, popular with visitors, framed by shops, restaurants, and historic inns.
It remains one of the most photographed spots in Canterbury, thanks to the breathtaking view of Christ Church Gate looming over the square.
Though the butter sellers are long gone, the market square’s history is still tangible in the cobbled ground, the surrounding medieval and Tudor façades, and the sense of continuity as a meeting place between the sacred Cathedral precincts and the secular city beyond.