A Tabard Inn Southwark stamp is now available for holders of the Pilgrims’ Way passport. The successor to the Tabard Inn was the Old Tabard built in 1875 and still in business during the last century. It occupied a small portion of the original site being confined to the northern corner of the Talbot Yard […]

The new Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Philip Mounstephen, will be formally welcomed at Winchester Cathedral on Saturday afternoon 13 January. But first Bishop Stephen will take the necessary oaths and make the declarations required in the tiny church of St Lawrence. This is the first church on the Pilgrims’ Way near the archway […]

Evensong at Canterbury Cathedral on Friday 29 December, St Thomas of Canterbury Martyrdom, will be at 5.30pm. This is a little later than in past years but 5.30pm is now the daily time for evensong which is broadcast live via the website. The service is being branded Memorial Service for the Martyrdom of St Thomas. […]

Scaffolding was removed from Otford Palace’s tower last week to reveal window frames. The Archbishops Palace Conservation Trust‘s £2m restoration programme continues with a submission for funding to the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Pilgrims can view the tower exterior daily. The next big public event will be at May Day weekend next year. The Pilgrims’ […]

At St George’s Roman Catholic Cathedral in Southwark on Thursday 28 September at 6pm there will be a Solemn Ecumenical Vespers to mark the tenth anniversary of the shrine installed in honour of St Oscar Romero. The preacher will be Dr John Hall, former Dean of Westminster Abbey where a statue of the saint is […]

Saturday 16 September is St Edith of Kemsing memorial. Edith, sister of Ethelred the Unready and also known as St Edith of Wilton, was born in the Pilgrims’ Way village of Kemsing in 961. Today the Kentish village, which has her statue above the hall, maintains her well which is always decorated with flowers on […]

We had the warning in Winchester on a rainy St Swithun’s Day 15 July: St Swithin’s Day, if it does rain/Full forty days, it will remain So on St Bartholomew’s Day 24 August we hope to say: All the tears St Swithun can cry /St Bartholomew dusty mantle wipes dry You come across a St […]

A church with the very rare dedication to St Martha is found on the top of a hill on the Pilgrims’ Way between St Catherine’s near Guildford and Shere. Saturday 29 July is St Martha’s Day. The church is celebrating on Sunday at 11.15am and teas will be available in the afternoon. St Martha knew […]

Tuesday 25 July is St James’s Day when many pilgrims aim to have arrived in Santiago de Compostela and enjoyed the eve of feast fireworks. St James the Great, bother of St John and an Apostle, is the patron of pilgrims everywhere as well as Spain and lost souls. The only St James’s church on […]

There is briefly a rare aroma along the Darent Valley as fields begin to turn purple. The first serious colour on England’s largest lavender plantation appeared last week and it will increase day by day until harvesting in mid-month. Castle Farm, between Lullingstone Castle and Shoreham, only planted lavender in 1998 giving the already beautiful […]