The ruins  of Lesnes Abbey church will be treated as a living church again on Sunday.

it will be the starting point for a Procession of the Blessed Sacrament. This is a Corpus Christi procession held two weeks late.

A Corpus Christi procession was an annual event in nearby Bostall Woods before the Second World War. The present custom of gathering at the Abbey each summer dates from 1970.

The Augustinian monastery was founded in reparation for the murder of St Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral. It was closed by Cardinal Wolsey in 1525 for being too small.

But a decade later Henry VIII closed all monasteries.

The procession, organised by Roman Catholic parishes in Bexley and Greenwich, on Sunday 24 June starts at 3pm.

+Lesnes Abbey is on the PW route out of London and is usually reached on the second day. Pilgrims can obtain a stamp for their pilgrim passport at the cafe. 

The nearest station is Abbey Wood which has been rebuilt ready for being part of the Crossrail Elizabeth Line next year.