The Inaugural Walking Pilgrimage to Glastonbury
“Through baptism we embark on a road that is sometimes smooth, sometimes rough,
but we do not journey alone.”
Fr Kevin Knox-Lecky, former Parish Priest of St Mary’s, Glastonbury
Every year since the early 1950’s the Clifton Diocesan Glastonbury Pilgrimage has been held with Mass and a rosary procession. Today most people travel by car, but until the 1960s groups from each deanery walked carrying wooden crosses. In 2023 this tradition of walking pilgrimage was renewed.
Glastonbury Abbey was founded in the 8th century on the site of an older church to Our Lady. By the 14th Century it had become an important Marian pilgrimage site. It was suppressed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and in 1539 the last abbot, Richard Whiting, was executed on Glastonbury Tor with two other monks. The first modern pilgrimage to Glastonbury was in 1895 to celebrate the beatification of Abbot Whiting. In 1955 the Shrine of Our Lady of Glastonbury was restored.
In 2022 I trialled a route from Clifton Cathedral to Glastonbury to be called the Whiting Way in honour of the martyred Abbot. Cathedral Dean, Canon Bosco MacDonald, suggested an inaugural group walking pilgrimage to join the annual Diocesan event as part of the Cathedral’s 50th Anniversary celebrations. We would walk 37 miles over three days.
On the morning of Friday 7th July eleven pilgrims gathered at the Cathedral for Mass and a blessing before setting off in glorious sunshine. We were six men and five women: some of us knew each other, but most were meeting for the first time. We shared our stories as we walked; some had tramped to Santiago or Rome, but for others this was new. After climbing to Dundry we sauntered down to Chew Magna for Evening Prayer in St Andrew’s Anglican Church and fish & chips in the courtyard of the 15th Century Old School House. Four of us slept on the hall floor whilst the rest found more comfortable accommodation!
We re-assembled for Mass on Saturday morning at Sacred Heart Church in Chew Magna, where the parishioners hospitably provided tea and cakes. After a march across farmland to Compton Martin the pub landlord gloomily predicted a monsoon for our traverse of the Mendip Hills. We arrived at our B&B in Wells Cathedral School drenched, tired and too late for Evensong, but a shower and an Italian meal restored our spirits.
Sunday dawned bright and breezy. We were welcomed to the Church of SS Joseph & Teresa, Wells, for Morning Prayer followed by tea, cake and pastries generously provided by parishioners. For most of the morning we had Glastonbury Tor in the distance and at last we faced the stiff climb to the site of Abbot Whiting’s martyrdom. We ate our picnic with stunning views in every direction and finally descended to Glastonbury and the Shrine Church.
We joined Mass in the Abbey ruins, sitting amongst several hundred others from across the Diocese: people of many cultures and nations but united as the Pilgrim People of God. Bishop Declan’s white vestments billowed in the wind as he spoke movingly about human vulnerability. His homily received spontaneous applause.
After Mass we went our own ways but we had shared the gift of fellowship between us and had received generous hospitality from others. It had been a hopeful journey.
Phil McCarthy
More pictures of the pilgrimage
