Leigh Hatts

Public worship has returned to Winchester Cathedral in time for St Swithun’s Day on Wednesday 15 July. Swithun (800-862) often gets a mention in the weather forecast at this time of the summer thanks to the saying: St Swithin’s day if thou dost rain For forty days it will remain St Swithin’s day if thou […]

William Cash was planning a Catholic Herald readers’ Becket anniversary pilgrimage to Canterbury when the virus struck. In this month’s Catholic Herald he writes about St Thomas Becket and recounts own recent walk from Southwark. There are some delightful illustrations. According to The Times William Cash is thorough for he also went solo from Winchester […]

The eve of the Translation of St Thomas of Canterbury is the anniversary of St Thomas More’s death in 1535. He is a Becket figure who put God before the state and as a result lost his life. Today pilgrims ‘meet’ him at Southwark, Dartford, Farningham and Canterbury. In Canterbury every 6 July there is […]

On this coming Saturday 4 July some pubs, bed & breakfasts and cafes will reopen. Does this mean that we can now walk to Canterbury and get there by the 800th Translation anniversary on Tuesday 7 July? ‘Probably not’ is the best answer. Not all pubs or accommodation will be open on 4 July. Some […]

Today Thursday 2 July is St Swithun’s Day in Norway. Norway’s Stavanger Cathedral, built in 1125, is dedicated to St Swithun. Its first bishop, Reinald, came from Winchester and was responsible for the construction by English builders. He arrived with one of the saint’s arms which was last seen in 1517. The other one was […]

Today Sunday 7 June is Trinity Sunday. On the Sunday after Whit Sunday 1162 Thomas Becket was consecrated bishop by Bishop of Winchester Henry de Blois assisted by fourteen other bishops. ‘The Sunday after Whit Sunday‘ was at Canterbury Cathedral afterwards called Trinity Sunday as in France and eventually this was incorporated into the universal […]

St Joan of Arc Day on Saturday 30 May brings to mind Cardinal Henry Beaufort. The Cardinal presided at the trial of Joan who afterwards entrusted her ring to him on the eve of her death by burning in Rouen’s market square in 1431. We meet Cardinal Beaufort as we start out on the Pilgrims’ […]

Today 21 May is the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII setting out for Canterbury. Early on the morning of 21 May 1520, after the Ascension, the King and Queen Katharine (of Aragon), accompanied by Cardinal Wolsey and a huge entourage, left Greenwich Palace. A very long procession went uphill towards Blackheath.  The final destination was […]

A recent addition to information relating to the Pilgrims’ Way is an online guide to Lesnes Abbey. But for the Coronavirus lockdown this is a site which would have been having much traffic in this Becket 2020 year. Lesnes Abbey, dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St Thomas of Canterbury, lies on the north side […]

It is reported by the Confraternity of St James that Santiago Cathedral is asking Pope Francis to extend next year’s St James Holy Year into 2022. This is prompted by a growing realisation in Galicia that a return to normal will be gradual with travel restricted for sometime after a phased return to work. The […]