Architects
The first three architects are not known. The first one would have built the Anglo- Saxon church. The second would have built the roman church that was above the Anglo- Saxon church building. The third architect would be the one that Lanfranc hired. After the fire of 1174 William of Sens was hired to plan and rebuild the choir.He was told to use what was left of the old damaged choir and also to extend it to the east. William of Sens was born in France. He designed the choir in the Gothic style, he also planned to change the outside of the church with flying buttresses. During the construction process William of Sens fell of the scaffolding and was badly injured. He had to stop work on the choir. William of Sens went back to France where he died a short time later because of the injuries he received from falling off the scaffolding. They brought in William the Englishman to finish the choir. He followed William of Sens' plants very well. Archbishop Sudbury hired Henry Yeveley to redo the nave after it became unsafe because of deterioration. It took him 25 years completed it
Church architecture
Augustine of Canterbury was Canterbury Cathedral's first archbishop. he was sent as a missionary by Pope Gregory the Great in 596 to convert the Anglo- Saxons to Christianity. The building used for Canterbury Cathedral was not built from the ground up. He used a Roman Church that was already there. Excavations showed evidence of the Roman church being built above the Anglo- Saxon Church. Canterbury was founded in 597. It was dedicated to the Holy Savior, Jesus Christ. The Norman conquest happened in 1066. Norman Lanfranc was made Archbishop of Canterbury in 1070 by William the Conqueror. There was a fire on December 6, 1067. No work was done to rebuild it until 1071.The Cathedral was rebuilt over a 6 year period. construction ended in 1077. This fire destroyed the rest of the Anglo- Saxon church building. The cathedral was dedicated in 1077 after 6 years of renovations. The renovations that Lanfranc were done with stone he had brought over from France. What Lanfranc built was in the Romanesque style. The fire of 1174 didn't destroy the nave that was part of the rebuilding that Lanfranc did but because there wasn't always enough money to upkeep the church it exist today due to deterioration over time. At a point it became so unsafe that Archbishop Sudbury ordered to have a new nave built in 1370. It took Henry Yeveley 25 years to finish the nave. He could only go so far in length but he got the height to 80 feet. After the fire of 1174 the choir was damaged. This came at a great time because the needed to make accommodations for the big group of pilgrims that had started coming in after Thomas Becket died. His body was first placed in the crypt. He was moved into the Trinity Chapel after it was built. William of Sens designed the new choir in the Gothic style.
construction
Different parts of the cathedral have been rebuilt at different times. The first session of construction started in 1070. The last session of construction was in 1884. I didn't find the number of square feet the whole cathedral is but there are measurements for different parts of the cathedral. Length 525 feet, Nave length 178 feet, Nave width 71 feet, Nave height 80 feet, Choir length 180 feet, Choir height 71 feet, Width 154 feet. It has 3 towers that are 236 feet tall. The one spire that it have is now gone, it was 190 feet tall.