Leigh Hatts

‘We have the added worship of the Feast of St Thomas of Canterbury on 29 December which gives a special Canterbury climax to our worship before 2022 begins,’ says Dean of Canterbury Robert Willis. Canterbury Cathedral has announced services for the Feast of St Thomas Becket on Wednesday 29 December. The 8am Eucharist will be […]

‘In the shadow of a tall, nine-arched, red brick railway viaduct, a long, thin, green valley extends besides the River Darent in Kent,’ writes Peter Stanford in his new book If These Stones Could Talk. He is describing the Pilgrims’ Way as it runs south from Dartford to Otford. Thomas Becket came this way in […]

The cathedrals at the start and end of the long Pilgrims’ Way are included in the new book Europe’s 100 Best Cathedralsby Simon Jenkins. Winchester and Canterbury are awarded four stars. We are told that Winchester, begun by William the Conqueror, ‘was to be twice the length of the abbeys of Normandy’. The chantry chapels […]

Today Tuesday 30 November is St Andrew’s Day. It’s special in Scotland, Greece, Barbados, Amalfi and many other places. It was once a special day at Boxley Abbey which possessed a St Andrew relic, a finger encased in silver, which was in the freestanding St Andrew’s Chapel built in 1484 about a quarter of a […]

If you are on the Pilgrims’ Way walking through Aylesford this weekend it may be cold but you will find mulled wine and refreshment at Aylesford Priory’s Christmas Fair. The medieval priory offers bed and breakfast at its large guesthouse all year.

Ken Haigh, resident in Canada, has written an account of his walk from Winchester to Canterbury. Those who have walked the Pilgrims’ Way from Winchester will find this book an enjoyable account. So might those who come from London joining the converged way at Otford. It is interesting that at Otford Ken chooses to take […]

For many 3 November is the day after All Souls’ Day or maybe Martin de Porres Day. However, in some calendars it is St Rumwold’s Day. Alternative spellings include Rumwald, Rumbald and Rumbold. Rumwold is favoured by churches in Kent. St Rumwold was born into the Mercian royal family in the 650s. The birth took […]

Alfred the Great died on 26 October 899 and the anniversary is marked annually in Common Worship. The church calendar entry is Alfred the Great, King of the West Saxons, Scholar, 899. Alfred is buried in St Bartholomew’s churchyard at Hyde Abbey next to the Pilgrims’ Way on the edge of Winchester. His statue dominates […]

This month grapes have been harvested for the first time at Boxley. Vine planting began in the spring of 2019 at the 388 acre Boarley and Abbey Farms to create England’s largest vineyard. The age old diversion to a parallel path still taken by pilgrims at Boxley, originally to visit the now lost Boxley Abbey, […]

Peter Walker’s art installation The Leaves of the Trees is made up of 5,000 steel leaves with the word HOPE on each one. The impression is of autumn leaves fallen from the trees and scattered by the wind. This reflective memorial to the effects of the pandemic was seen before the high altar and great […]