Going on pilgrimage to a sacred (holy) place seems to fulfil a need for people of all religions and beliefs. We are perhaps most familiar with such destinations as Jerusalem, Mecca and Rome, with Compostella in north-west Spain and in Britain with the shrine of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury, which Chaucer's pilgrims visited around 1400. However, it is thought that the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk was probably the fourth most popular Christian pilgrimage destination, and the most popular in Britain before the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII and his Chancellor Cromwell.
The Walsingham shrine was a medieval replica of the home of the Holy Family in Nazareth (The Holy House) which a local noblewoman, Lady Richeldis de Faverches, had been told to build by the Virgin Mary in dreams or visions in 1061. The shrine attracted pilgrims from all over Europe including Kings of England from Henry III to Henry VIII.
There was an extensive network of pilgrimage routes across Britain and Europe and beyond, along which monasteries, taverns, and other organisations offered accommodation, food and other services to pilgrims. Pilgrimages were however forbidden by Henry VIII's reformation of the Catholic Church in England. Many shrines were destroyed and the support network along with the monasteries, which had provided free pilgrim accommodation disappeared.
There is no direct evidence that St. Mary's Church at Houghton-on-the-Hill was part of the pilgrimage network before the Reformation but it stands close to the Peddar's Way, an ancient footpath which is a strong candidate for having been part of the most popular route for pilgrims, from London to Walsingham.
Pilgrims have been visiting the Catholic, Church of England and Orthodox shrines at Walsingham in increasing numbers over the last 100 years, and there are now again many pilgrimage routes to Walsingham.
One route in particular, from London to Walsingham, has been recreated following as closely as possible what the original route might have been. This route is 178 miles long and has 13 stages, each averaging about 14 miles, starting at St. Magnus the Martyr just north of London Bridge and ending in Walsingham. Stage 11 of this Walsingham Pilgrimage route starts at Great Cressingham and goes by way of South Pickenham, Houghton on the Hill, North Pickenham and South Acre to Castle Acre.
The route is now known as the London to Walsingham Camino, and has been officially recognised as a feeder route for the Camino de Santiago in Spain by the Confraternity of StJames. Nineteen nominated churches along the Walsingham Camino route, includingSt Mary's Church, hold official pilgrimage stamps which can be used by pilgrims to stamp their pilgrimage passports.
The Confraternity of St James is the largest and oldest English-speaking association of pilgrims, ultimately planning to make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It provides the pilgrimage passports which, when stamped, can be used to verify that the pilgrim has walked at least 25km of the feeder route. This in turn will reduce the total of 100km that must be walked in Spain to qualify the pilgrim as an official Santiago pilgrim. Official pilgrimage passports can be obtained from the Confraternity of St James.
The Confraternity provides a range of publications about pilgrim paths in the UK, Spain and elsewhere and offers support and services to pilgrims, including practical pilgrim days, a regular members bulletin, a bookshop and library, help for young people undertaking research and for elderly, frail or disabled people who might otherwise be unable to go on the pilgrimage.
The British Pilgrimage Trust, a registered charity formed in 2014 to promote pilgrimage in Britain has the vision to make pilgrimage information accessible to as many people as possible, by helping to build routes, infrastructure and support for pilgrimage all around Great Britain.
Since 2016, the Trust has led more than 2,000 pilgrims on 100 guided pilgrimages, and established two routes: The Old Way to Canterbury and the Wexford-Pembrokeshire Pilgrim Way.
The Old Way winds for 250 miles from Southampton to Canterbury and is based on Britain's oldest road map, the Gough Map (c.1360), adapted to changes in the landscape since the 14th century.
The Wexford-Pembrokeshire Pilgrim Way is being developed with Irish and Welsh pilgrimage organisations. The 160km route, between Ferns and Rosslare in Ireland and Fishguard and St Davids in Wales will become the Camino of Ireland and Wales.
"Britain's Pilgrim Places" by Nick Mayhew-Smith and Guy Hayward. The guide describes every major holy space in Britain and the pilgrim paths that connect them. It includes a completely revised and expanded second edition of Britain's Holiest Places. "London to Walsingham Camino - The Pilgrim Guide" by Andy Bull. The guide gives full details of the route including maps, places to visit, public transport and places to eat and stay.
"Pilgrim Paths to Spain, Where and how to begin your Santiago Camino in Spain", by Andy Bull.
All these guides can be bought from:
The Confraternity of St. James
27A Blackfriars Road
London
SE1 8NY
Tel: 020 7827 9988
Email: office@csj.org.uk
Website: csj.org.uk
Britain's Pilgrim Places is published by The British Pilgrimage Trust.
Email: info@britishpilgrimage.org
Website: britishpilgrimage.org/
