The Pilgrims’ Way: Winchester & Southwark to Canterbury

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The Pilgrims’ Way: Winchester & Southwark to Canterbury

Leigh Hatts • October 4, 2023

The Pilgrims' Way from Winchester to Canterbury existed long before the murder of St Thomas Becket in 1170. The route may have well have reached west to Cornwall and predate Christ's birth.

Immediately after the murder in 1170, and even more after 1220 when the Becket shrine in Canterbury Cathedral was completed, there was a steady stream of pilgrims over centuries until Henry VIII banned pilgrimage. Hilaire Belloc, among those who re-awakened the route in the 19th century, claimed that although the road is older than Becket 'the pilgrimage saved the road'.

At lunchtime on the first day out of Winchester you will probably have reached Ovington where pilgrims are greeted at the The Bush inn by a portrait of Geoffrey Chaucer. The poet never visited the village and there is no record of him ever being in Winchester although he did go to Southampton. The Pilgrims' Way of Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales does not start with St Swithun in Winchester but in Southwark on the south end of London Bridge. Chaucer's book is fiction but the route, also older than Becket and known to the Romans, is an authentic pilgrim route. It has probably been more used over the centuries by pilgrims than the Winchester-Canterbury way.

This route out of London is once more being recognised as part of the Santiago Camino and the Via Francigena - to walk to Santiago de Compostela and Rome most people had to start in London and today an increasing number wish to do so again even if they might be walking in stages over several years during annual holidays.

The Pilgrims’ Way routes from Winchester and Southwark in the Pilgrims’ Way guidebook are as faithful to the traditional way as possible without forcing the walker to spend days on unhealthy main roads. Hence the diversion off the old Roman road after Shooters Hill to go via Lesnes Abbey on a wooded hillside. Is this cheating? Many pilgrims would have stopped off at the abbey for bed and breakfast. Indeed we know in 1300 Edward I visited on his way to Canterbury as did the Bishop of Worcester who stayed the night in 1313. Chaucer's fictional pilgrims do not visit but Chaucer did in 1387, as he was beginning to write his work, and he was accompanied by The Tabard Inn landlord, the only real character featured in the book.

It is important to remember that the line of the Pilgrims' Way has changed over years and often shifted seasonally. The pilgrims from London have the delight of walking up the Darent Valley where historian Arthur Mee described the view from Eynsford Hill as 'a straight mile probably unique on the map of rural England, beginning with the site of a Roman house, passing a Norman castle, and ending at the site of a Saxon settlement; then if we lengthen our mile a little, heading on to a Tudor gateway in Lullingstone Park'.

At Lullingstone pilgrims may pass under that gateway to visit the 'church on the lawn' which lies in the parish where the quarrel between Becket and Henry II was first sparked over a disputed appointment. Soon there are lavender fields in countryside called the 'veil heaven' by artist Samuel Palmer who saw Psalm 65 in the 'folds full of sheep' and 'valleys...thick with corn' as he roamed in the 1820s wondering if pre-Reformation pilgrims had seen the same trees.

The valley's climax is Otford where the London and Winchester routes join. Here pilgrims pass down the side of St Bartholomew's church on a path to Kemsing where St Edith's Well is decorated with flowers on her September feast day. Kemsing's 13th-century church door has many indentations said to have been made by pilgrim staves.

Was it a miracle that in 2016 as the guidebook was being written the lost ferries on the River Medway were replaced by a new bridge built on time? This allowed the continuation to Aylesford Priory, the vineyard of lost Boxley Priory, Charing and Chilham to reach Harbledown where Henry II stepped down from his horse to walk on foot and St Dunstan's before Canterbury's West Gate where the King removed his shoes.

This year the Romero Way has linked Southwark's St George's Cathedral to Southwark Cathedral. Relics of St Oscar Romero, a 20th-century Thomas Becket, are found in both St George's Cathedral and Canterbury's Roman Catholic church alongside the cathedral where he is acknowledged in the Corona Chapel. The two Southwark cathedrals invite each other to their special occasions and the congregations have been on Holy Land and Walsingham pilgrimages together. The Romero Way now enables Canterbury-bound pilgrims to begin at the National Romero Shine and still include the start at Southwark Cathedral - which is the Southwark Priory visited by St Thomas Becket weeks before his death.

There are plans for an ecumenical confraternity to support the infrastructure of pilgrim passport and hospitality as the Pilgrims' Way comes alive again as has, within living memory, the Santiago Camino.

Leigh Hatts' guidebook to the Pilgrims' Way is published by Cicerone: https://www.cicerone.co.uk/authors/leigh-hatts

LINKS
Winchester Cathedral www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk
St George’s Cathedral, Southwark www.stgeorgescathedral.org.uk
Southwark Cathedral cathedral.southwark.anglican.org
Aylesford Priory www.thefriars.org.uk
Canterbury Cathedral www.canterbury-cathedral.org
Romero Way www.pilgrimways.org.uk/southwark-romero-way
Pilgrims’ Way www.thepilgrimsway.co.uk

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In the Footsteps of St Paul

By Eddie Gilmore • April 1, 2025

While walking the Lycian Way Eddie Gilmore and his wife Yim Soon found they were walking in the footsteps of St Paul.

New St Matthew's Way (West)

By Phil McCarthy • March 20, 2025

St Matthew's Way The western Pilgrimage of Hope Way from St David's Cathedral in Cardiff to St Barnabas' Cathedral in Nottingham via St Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham and the Shrine of St Chad in Lichfield. Patron: St Melangell (c 7th or 8th Century) Welsh hermit, consecrated virgin and abbess. According to her hagiography, Melangell was a princess who fled an arranged marriage and became a consecrated virgin in the wilderness of Powys. She saved a hare from a prince's hunting dogs and is associated with protection of wildlife. Her feast is celebrated on 27th May. Overview: The Way starts at St David's Cathedral in Cardiff. The route soon joins the Welsh Coast Path to Newport and then Chepstow. Here the Way turns inland following the Offa's Dyke Path through the Wye Valley to Monmouth. The route follows the Wye Valley Walk to Ross-on-Wye where the Way joins the Herefordshire Trail to Ledbury. The Geopark Way and the Three Choirs Way (3CW) are followed over the Malvern Hills. After Malvern the Way continues on the 3CW until the River Severn is crossed and followed to Worcester. The Monarch's Way is followed to Droitwich Spa and then the John Corbett Way to Bromsgrove. Here the Monarch's Way is regained until just before Illey the Way diverts into central Birmingham along the Illey Way. From the Cathedral of St Chad in Birmingham the Way follows the St Chad's Way , at first along canal towpaths. The Way passes through Sutton Coldfield before joining the Heart of England Way to Lichfield. The route joins the Trent & Mersey Canal towpath to Burton upon Trent and then on to Sawley. Here the Way diverts to Long Eaton and then follows the Way of Blessed Cyprian Tansi along the Broxtowe Country Trail and finally the Beeston Canal towpath to central Nottingham and the Cathedral of St Barnabas. Essential facts: Route length: 215.6 miles Ascent: 11,178 ft Peak elevation: 1,378 ft Average walk day length: 14.5 miles Average walk day duration: 6 hours First walking day: Thursday 28th August 2025 Number of walking days: 14.5 Number of rest days: 1.5 End date: Saturday 13th September 2025 at St Barnabas' Cathedral, Nottingham Pilgrims are invited to join the Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at 11.15 on Sunday 14th September at St Barnabas' Cathedral. Details of the day pilgrimage stages will be available when day pilgrimage booking opens in April 2025. See the route below.

New St Mark's Way (North)

By Phil McCarthy • March 20, 2025

St Mark's Way The northern Pilgrimage of Hope Way from the Cathedral Church of St Anne in Leeds to St Barnabas' Cathedral in Nottingham via the St Marie's Cathedral in Sheffield and the Chapel of the Padley Martyrs. Patron: St Hilda of Whitby (c. 614 – 680) abbess and key figure in the Anglo-Saxon Church. Hilda founded and was the first abbess of the monastery at Whitby which was the venue for the Synod of Whitby in 664. She was widely recognised for her wisdom and learning and trained five bishops. Her feast is celebrated on 17th November. Overview: The Way starts at Leeds Cathedral and follows the Transpennine Trail (TPT) SE beside the Aire & Calder Navigation to Mickletown. Here the path veers SW to continue on the TPT along a disused railway line and then the River Calder to Wakefield. The Way follows the TPT again beside the former Barnsley Canal and then along a disused railway to Wombwell. The route turns SW along the Barnsley Boundary Walk to Elscar, and then across farmland to briefly join the Old Salt Rd, beside the A629. The Way soon joins the Sheffield Country Walk and follows this beside the Sheffield Canal to reach St Marie's Cathedral in central Sheffield. From here the Way joins the Padley Martyrs Way , leaving the city through Endcliffe Park and then climbing Houndkirk Moor to arrive at the Chapel of the Padley Martyrs. The path then follows the River Derwent to Matlock. The Way leaves the Derwent at Ambergate and turns E, through Ripley and then along the former Cromford Canal to Eastwood. Here the route joins the Robin Hood Way to Strelley where the Way veers E to Kingsbury and finally reaches St Barnabas' Cathedral, central Nottingham. Essential facts: Route length: 107.6 miles Ascent 3,615 ft: The route is mostly flat with the only significant climb on Day 4 over Houndkirk Moor Peak elevation: 1,388 ft Average walk day length: 13.5 miles Average walk duration: 5-6 hours First walking day Sat 6 September 2025 Number of walking days: 8 Number of rest days: 0 Last walking day: Saturday 13 September: arrival at St Barnabas' Cathedral Nottingham for evening prayer and social celebration Sunday 14 September, the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross: pilgrims are invited to join the 11.15 Solemn Mass at St Barnabas' Cathedral Details of the day pilgrimage stages will be available when day pilgrimage booking opens in April 2025. For a detailed map of the route click the button below.

New St Luke's Way (East)

By Phil McCarthy • March 20, 2025

St Luke's Way The eastern Pilgrimage of Hope Way from the Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist in Norwich to the Cathedral Church of St Barnabas in Nottingham via the National Shrine of Our Lady at Houghton St Giles and the Pontifical Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham at King's Lynn. Patron : Julian of Norwich (c. 1343 – after 1416) English anchoress, mystic and theologian. Julian's writings, now known as Revelations of Divine Love, are the earliest surviving English-language works attributed to a woman. They are also the only surviving works by an anchoress in English. Her feast is celebrated on 13 th May. Overview The Way starts at the Cathedral and leaves the city along a disused railway line. The route follows the Walsingham Way along lanes to Great Ryborough. The path then follows the Way of the Annunciation to Fakenham and onto the National Shrine to Our Lady at Houghton St Giles and then Walsingham. The Way follows lanes to Dersingham and soon joins the Norfolk Coast Path to King's Lynn. The Way continues to Wisbech, Spalding, Bourne and then crosses farmland to join the Danelaw Way. The route continues along paths and tracks to Grantham. From there the route crosses farmland to Bingham and soon after joins the Trent Valley Way to central Nottingham and finally St Barnabas' Cathedral. Essential facts: Route length: 158.7 miles Ascent: 1,886 ft Peak elevation: 443 ft (the route is generally flat) Average walk day length: 15.8 miles Average walk day duration: 6 hours First walking day: Tuesday 2 September 2025 Number of walking days: 10 Number of rest days: 1 End date: Saturday 13th September 2025 at St Barnabas' Cathedral, Nottingham Pilgrims are invited to join the Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at 11.15 on Sunday 14th September at St Barnabas' Cathedral. Details of the day pilgrimage stages will be available when day pilgrimage booking opens in April 2025. For a detailed map of the route click the button below.

New St John's Way (South)

By Phil McCarthy • March 20, 2025

St John's Way The southern Pilgrimage of Hope Way from Southwark and Westminster Cathedrals in London to St Barnabas' Cathedral in Nottingham via the Cathedral of Our Lady Immaculate & St Thomas of Canterbury in Northampton. Patron : St Anne Line (c. 1563 – 1601): English married lay woman, convert and martyr. After the death of her husband, who had been banished for attending Mass, Anne was active in sheltering clandestine Catholic priests. Finally arrested, she was condemned to death and executed at Tyburn. She was canonised in 1970. Her feasts are: 27th February (individual), 25th October (with the Forty Martyrs of England & Wales), 30th August (with SS Margaret Ward and Margaret Clitherow). Overview The Way starts at the Cathedral of St George in Southwark and crosses the River Thames to reach Westminster Cathedral. It then passes through Royal parks to the Shrine of the Tyburn Martyrs. At Paddington the Grand Union Canal is reached. Apart from optional diversions to churches the Canal arm is followed to Northolt where the Way joins the Dog Rose Ramble and then the Hillingdon Trail. At Bayhurst Woods the Way diverts W to Harefield and soon rejoins the Grand Union Canal. Apart from diversions to Rickmansworth, Abbots Langley (birthplace of Adrian IV, the only English pope), and Leighton Buzzard the Canal is followed to Newport Pagnall. After the town the route follows the Three Shires Way, then the Midshires Way, the Northamptonshire Round and finally the Nene Way to Northampton Cathedral. The path leaves the city and rejoins the Midshires Way to Arthingworth and soon after follows the Brampton Valley Way to Market Harborough. The Way continues N on the Rutland Way and then the Leicestershire Round. Where this bends W the path follows the Jubilee Way to Melton Mowbray. The Way crosses farmland to reach Willoughby-in-the-Wolds where it breifly re-joins the Midshires Way before diverting to Keyworth. The Way heads towards Nottingham, briefly following a disused railway line, to finally reach Nottingham Cathedral. Essential facts: Route length: 173.3 miles Ascent: 4,931 ft - the route is mostly very flat Peak elevation: 656 ft Average walk day length: 14.9 miles Average walk day duration: 6 hours Number of walking days: 11.5 Number of rest days: 1.5 Start date: Monday 1st September at St George's Cathedral, Southwark, London End date: Saturday 13th September 2025 at St Barnabas' Cathedral, Nottingham Pilgrims are invited to join the Solemn Mass for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross at 11.15 on Sunday 14th September at St Barnabas' Cathedral. Details of the day pilgrimage stages will be available when day pilgrimage booking opens in April 2025. For a detailed map of the route click the button below.