Leigh Hatts

The Museum of London has the country’s largest collection of pilgrim badges and to mark this Becket2020 anniversary year it has put some on display. The varied pewter badges were the souvenir to be brought back to the capital from Canterbury by pilgrims. Hundreds of these souvenirs have been recovered from London excavations and mudlarking […]

There are signs of spring at Lesnes Abbey. The cafe was being cleaned today ready to reopen next week. Some daffodils are already appearing although the big show is a few weeks away. And there is new signage and information boards.

Setting out on the Pilgrims’ Way you will find a St Valentine connection at both Winchester and London’s Southwark. On the edge of Winchester the path passes through the remains of Hyde Abbey where one of the attractions was the head of St Valentine. The relic was given in 1041 by Jumièges Abbey in Normandy […]

Southwark Cathedral is having an open evening this Spring for visitors to learn about the Pilgrims’ Way. This year is the 800th anniversary of St Thomas Becket’s murder and the 850th of his ‘translation’, or his body being moved, to the famous shrine upstairs in Canterbury Cathedral. It was this shrine which drew thousands to […]

One of the pleasures of walking along the Pilgrims’ Way between Farnham and St Catherine’s village, outside Guildford, is the ‘midway’ stop at Compton. The walker’s pause here is often to visit the wonderful Watts Gallery Tea Shop with its jumble of china next to the path. But Compton also has a church with a […]

Artist Michelle Rumney was at Southwark Cathedral on Sunday to measure more people for her Lent art installation. Bishop Peter Price and actor Timothy West were among the many who were measured to be part of the artwork. In Medieval times your body (or dead body) could be measured from head to toe with a […]

Pilgrims and intending Canterbury pilgrims are being invited to drop in at Southwark Cathedral on Sunday. ‘Measuring the saint’ is an old custom involving making a candle to the height of a particular saint. The saint in question this time is St Thomas of Canterbury, better known as Thomas Becket, whose 850th anniversary of martyrdom […]

The Daily Telegraph today carries an obituary for Bobby Neame whose name is associated with Bishop’s Finger ale. It is appropriate that the Pilgrims’ Way has its own ale since St Thomas Becket is the patron of the Brewers’ Company. Bishops Finger ale takes its name from the finger-shaped signposts pointing pilgrims the way to […]

Sunday 29 December is St Thomas of Canterbury Day when the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket during Christmas 1170 is remembered. It will be a low-key day as this year it is a Sunday when most churches are keeping Holy Family Sunday or First Sunday of Christmas. At Canterbury Cathedral there is evensong at 3.15pm […]