The Telegraph recently named Canterbury as the UK’s best small city. I say that’s selling it short.
I hate to brag, I honestly do, but I’m privileged to have travelled quite a bit. Having grown up as a third culture kid, I’ve lived on three continents, visited over a dozen countries and scores of cities.
Canterbury has been named the UK’s best ‘small city’
But there is none better than the place I’ve come to call home.
When I got a job and moved here almost four years ago, I didn’t know too much about Canterbury or its history.
Being a reporter for KentOnline’s sister paper – the Kentish Gazette – it was my job to become familiar with the area, but I didn’t expect to grow so attached.
I soon got to know signature staples like Cafe St Pierre’s pastries and the homemade pies of Old Weavers House.
Writing food reviews, I got to know other local favourites like the Gourmet Sausage & Burger Company food truck, and more recently, the popular Refectory Kitchen.
One of my first articles for KentOnline was reviewing the Gourmet Sausage & Burger Company food truck on Canterbury high street
And visiting the city’s main attractions, I saw how, despite its small size, Canterbury’s cultural significance attracts global talent – watching top dancers at the Marlowe Theatre and international cricket at the St Laurence Ground.
But I’ve been even more charmed to discover the lesser-known spots down cobblestone capillaries of the city centre or just away from the touristy areas.
I love the Canterbury Rock used-record store near St Dunstan’s Church, where the friendly and knowledgeable owner never fails to find me a hidden gem at a bargain price.
Or off-beat fun on the quieter side at the Long Rest board game cafe on Butchery Lane – or renting a badminton court at the college sports centre on Sundays.
Canterbury gets more sunshine than almost anywhere else in the country, and has stunning architecture and green space galore.
Canterbury Rock record store at Whitstable Road is one of my favourite shops in the city. Picture: Google Maps
When planning our 2024 wedding, my then fiancée and I didn’t need to look beyond CT2.
We were married at beautiful Tower House in Westgate Gardens, followed by a dreamboat glide down the adjacent River Stour.
Visitors to the city will surely have come across the picturesque park, its ever-blooming flowerbeds bordering the chalk stream.
Or if having arrived via Canterbury East railway station, day-trippers will have likely looked down on Dane John Gardens while walking along the Roman city wall.
My wife and I got married at the beautiful Tower House in Westgate Gardens, Canterbury. Picture: Pirouette Pictures Photography
But tourists may not have explored the private Franciscan Gardens off St Peter’s Street, which dates back to 1224 and is home to the first Franciscan settlement in England.
What I love about this city is that its millennia of history isn’t cooped up in a museum – although Canterbury Roman Museum is definitely worth a visit – it’s part of everyday life.
Drivers entering the city centre from St Dunstan’s Street literally pass under the largest surviving medieval gatehouse in England.
Sitting top deck of the UNI1 as it squeezes through the 600-year-old stone archway of Westgate (when it isn’t detoured to avoid roadworks) always reminds me of the city’s past.
Passing beneath Canterbury’s history Westgate always reminds me of the city incredible history. Picture: Google Maps
If you find yourself in earshot of the Cathedral at 8.55pm, you might hear the “curfew” of Bell Harry tolling ahead of the securing of the Precincts’ Gates – a nightly tradition that dates back almost four centuries.
While the street frontage of Old Weavers House is more than 500 years old, its foundations date back to the 12th century.
And the giant hill in Dane John Gardens began as a Roman cemetery mound in the first or second century AD, making it one of the oldest man-made shapes in the city.
But putting its storied history aside, Canterbury also simply affords residents a relatively high quality of living.
The Roman cemetery mound in Dane John Gardens dates back to the first or second century AD. Picture: Google Maps
It boasts great schools, three universities, and, compared to Kent as a whole, it also has pretty good healthcare offerings.
Despite Kent & Canterbury Hospital lacking an A&E department and falling short on its most recent CQC inspection, all but one of the city’s GP surgeries have above-average doctor-to-patient ratios.
And on a personal note, throughout my journey with multiple sclerosis I’ve always received stellar care from University Medical Centre and the specialists at the K&C.
Commercially, supported by both tourism and a large student population, the city centre is busy year-round.
This guarantees the many independent cafes, pubs and restaurants a reliable stream of foot traffic needed to thrive.
It also explains how even niche shops have survived many decades – Canterbury Pottery, for instance, has been open at Burgate for more than 60 years.
Canterbury’s not just the best ‘small city’ in the UK – it’s the best place full stop
I could go on for another 1,000 words waxing lyrical about my adopted home city and its many highlights.
And still I’d admit that Canterbury isn’t perfect – it’s got levels of crime higher than national averages, lower median wages but higher house prices.
My mum likes to say: “The grass is always greener where you water and fertilise it.”
Perhaps the real reason I love this place is because I’ve invested energy exploring it, gone out and made meaningful memories on its streets and spent time talking to the people who live here.
I challenge anyone to do the same and fail to come away thinking: Canterbury’s not just the best ‘small city’ in the UK – it’s the best place full stop.
