It was on April 24, 1538, that a writ of summons was sent forth in the name of Henry VIII. To thee, Thomas Becket, some time Archbishop of Canterbury--who had then been dead for 368 years--to appear within thirty days to answer to a charge of treason, contumacy, and rebellion against his sovereign lord, King Henry II. There is, however, a material disadvantage suffered by those who use the railway, in that they miss the first view of the Cathedral city set in the midst of soft-swelling eocene hills, which comes as the first stage of the gradual unfolding of the tragic story.
