Leigh Hatts

Darren Merrill above the Old Kent Road and looking down to Tesco

The Annunciation 2023, on Saturday 25 March, is the 900th anniversary of the founding in 1123 of Smithfield’s St Bartholomew priory dedicated to looking after the sick. The church survived to feature in Four Weddings and a Funeral and its infirmary is now the famous Bart’s Hospital. A silver chalice being used during this afternoon’s […]

Today Shrove Tuesday 2023 is the 850th anniversary of Archbishop Thomas Becket’s canonisation. In 1173 this day 21 February was Ash Wednesday. St Thomas of Canterbury, as he is also known, was murdered on 29 December 1170 during Vespers in Canterbury Cathedral. The news which had shocked England, including even Henry II, reached Pope Alexander […]

Arrangements for the feast of St Thomas Becket, or St Thomas of Canterbury, at Canterbury Cathedral this Thursday 29 December have been announced: 8am Eucharist at Altar of the Swordspoint in the Martyrdom. 12.30pm Eucharist. 3pm Solemn Evensong & procession. The liturgy incudes passages from TS Eliot’s Murder in the Cathedral and the hymn In […]

Today Wednesday 30 November is St Andrew’s Day which was a very special day on the Pilgrims’ Way at Botley Abbey, where there was a relic, and at the very last church before Canterbury Cathedral. Arriving on foot in Canterbury to visit Thomas Becket’s shine in the Cathedral before the Reformation you would not have […]

Southwark Cathedral has been strengthening and highlighting its links with Canterbury Cathedral to which it sends pilgrims. Last Saturday the Friends of Southwark Cathedral completed their pilgrimage to Canterbury after a delay of two years. Southwark Cathedral, being the starting point for many pilgrims, planned the walk for the Thomas Becket anniversary year 2020. But […]

London Bridge has long been the start of the pilgrimage to Canterbury. This weekend it also becomes the start of the pilgrimage to Walsingham. The Norfolk village holds the restored shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham which is a replica of her house in Nazareth. Southwark Cathedral on London Bridge’s south end is the established […]

This summer a small but fascinating display of medieval pilgrim badges can be found just inside Southwark Cathedral’s main entrance opposite the river.bc weather Included are three 14th-century Thomas Becket badges, one being an ampulla, and a 15th-century example. A rare find is a Boxley Abbey badge depicting its famous rood which had moving figures […]

The hidden Franciscan Gardens in the centre of Canterbury is maturing year by year as its restoration continues. An interesting feature is the meadow next to Greyfriars Chapel which straddles a braid of the River Stour. The grass remains uncut all summer allowing a cycle of flowers to appear.