See all Ornamental Chess Sets.
Canterbury Chess Set
The Canterbury Cathedral chess set has been created in great detail from the architecture and statuary seen in, and around, Canterbury Cathedral. The city of Canterbury has been a place of Christian worship for nearly two thousand years. Following a major fire at the original cathedral in 1174, the monks at Canterbury used the revenue from the many pilgrims visiting the shrine and relics of St Thomas to create the first Gothic cathedral in England. The reconstruction continued during the following century and at the end of the Middle Ages, Canterbury Cathedral was one of the noblest churches in Christendom.
This is an outstanding chess set design made from ground stone resin.
The regular Chess set comes in contrasting brown and ivory shades so that opposing pieces are easily distinguished. In the decorated version of the Chess set the clothing, weaponry and accessories have all been painstakingly hand-painted.
Click on the picture for a larger version
For a selection of matching chessboards, see the bottom of this page.
| Click image to enlarge |
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UK pounds (ex.VAT) |
Pounds (incl. VAT) |
ETA in workg. days |
Add to basket |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canterbury Cathedral Chess Set (without board) |
£78.25 | £93.90 | Eng/Wales: 3 wk.days |
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 | Canterbury Cathedral Chess Set - hand decorated (without board) |
£116.58 | £139.90 | Eng/Wales: 3 wk.days |
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For an immediate quote and ETA, add to the basket & select your location. |
You have the option of selecting a chessboard to your taste from our range of quality matching chess boards.
| SAC High Gloss Finish Chessboard - 50cm 
From £79.90 | SAC Matt Silk Finish Chessboard - 50cm 
From £73.90 | SAC Walnut & Sycamore Chessboard 
From £56.90 |
| SAC Wenge & Maple Chessboard 
From £56.90 | SAC Walnut & Sycamore Folding Chessboard 
£63.90 | SAC Profile Edge Chessboard - 50cm 
From £76.90 |
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The Origin of ChessA great deal has been written about the origins of chess and there is still a lot of debate on the subject. The earliest clear ancestor of chess is shaturanga or chaturanga which was invented by a 6th century Indian philosopher. It was a battle between four armies each under the control of a Rajah (king), two players being loosely allied against the other two and and each containing 4 corps - Infantry, Cavalry, Elephants and Boatmen. The board of 64 squares used for shaturanga, was borrowed from an earlier game called ashtapada, which was a race game played in ancient India. Under Hindu law, gambling became forbidden early on in the Hindu civilisation and, to avoid the gambling laws, shaturanga players dispensed with the dice. Another early modification was the merging of the allied armies into a single army making the game a two player form and duplicating the pieces, both developments which have survived until today. Other changes also occurred and the resulting game was called shatranj. There are three versions of the story of arrival of shatranj in Europe - did it come from the Saracens via Spain, from the Byzantine empire as a present to Charlemagne or was it brought back from the Middle East by Knights returning from the Crusades? Nonetheless in Europe, the game developed into modern European chess now played worldwide while in China, Japan, Burma, Thailand and Korea, other variants became just as popular. You can learn more about the History of Chess from The Online Guide to Traditional Games. |