The former Dean of Canterbury Robert Willis has died suddenly whilst in the USA. During the first two decades of this century he welcomed many pilgrims who had walked to Canterbury. He also prayed at Thomas Becket’s shrine site with others setting out south to Rome and Santiago. Many more were touched by his daily […]

The Associazione Europea delle Vie Francigene General Assembly has given unanimous approval to the Via Francigena starting in Southwark. The proposal to largely follow the line of the Pilgrims’ Way, described as the Francigena Britannica, was proposed by the Confraternity of Pilgrims to Rome. A starting stone stands outside Canterbury Cathedral but now many more […]

Pilgrims travelling from Canterbury to London are sometimes told that they are going the wrong way. Once of course most Canterbury pilgrims had to walk or ride both ways. But the Franciscan 800 pilgrims have been travelling from abroad to London and Oxford via Canterbury Cathedral. They are marking the 800th anniversary of the first […]

If you are setting out for Canterbury from Southwark on Tuesday 17 September you will find the Franciscan 800 celebrations at both cathedrals. At 9am Morning Prayer is at Southwark Cathedral (Anglican) followed by the Eucharist. Included will be prayers for peace in the Holy Land as part of the World Week for Peace in […]

St Edith of Kemsing Day is on Monday with the local celebration taking place on Sunday 15 September. Kemsing, where St Edith was born, is an important stage on the Pilgrims’ Way just after the Southwark and Winchester routes converge at Otford. On Sunday devotions at the flower decorated well are at 10.15am and 3.30pm. […]

A party of Franciscans will be welcomed to Canterbury Cathedral this afternoon at 3pm in the eastern crypt where St Thomas Becket’s body was first laid in 1170. The occasion will recall nine penniless friars arriving at Dover in September 1224. After it had been established that they were not ‘robbers or vagabonds’ they were […]

If it rains on St Swithun’s Day it will rain for forty days says the popular rhyme. The fortieth day is St Bartholomew’s Day Saturday 24 August. Pilgrims’ Way The Pilgrims’ Way has a church dedicated to Bartholomew found at Hyde Abbey on the edge of Winchester. St Swithun’s shrine is in Winchester Cathedral. Another […]

if you are setting out on the Pilgrims’ Way from Winchester this weekend you will find it’s St Swithun’s Day. On Sunday, being the eve of St Swithun’s Day, the First Festal Evensong of St Swithun at Winchester Cathedral is at 3.30pm. The St Swithun’s Day choral evensong, attended by all Winchester canons, on Monday […]

Friday 12 July is the 850th anniversary of Henry II visiting Canterbury for the first time after the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket four years earlier. In 1174 the 12 July also fell on a Friday. The king, who had decided on his penitential pilgrimage only six days earlier, landed at Southampton from Normandy. Some […]

Briefly Kent’s Darent valley has a touch of Provence with swathes of purple. Lavender is now found in fields alongside the Pilgrims’ Way between Lullingstone and Shoreham. This is the heart of Samuel Palmer’s ‘veil of heaven’ countryside although he never saw the lavender which was planted just 25 years ago. On the way from […]