Pilgrims' Way

SE England - 138 miles / 222 km from Winchester and 85 miles /137km from London to Canterbury

The land route from Winchester or London via Canterbury to Rome, using the Via Francingena, is at the origin of the Pilgrims´ Way. The flow of pilgrims to Rome may not have been in great numbers but after the death of Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Becket in 1170, there was a further reason to travel to Canterbury. Becket was murdered by six knights who mistakenly thought they were following orders from King Henry II, angry about Becket´s loyalty to the Church rather than to him. Becket was canonised just three years after his death. In 1174 Henry II made his own pilgrimage to Canterbury as a barefoot penitent.

Highlights of the route from Winchester include Winchester Cathedral, Guildford and St Catherine´s chapel, Reigate and Otford, where the Winchester route joins the path from London. The London route is the same one Chaucer´s medieval pilgrims took in his Canterbury Tales, one of the most famous English literary works dating from the 1400s.

Photo: Pilgrims Way_Winchester cathedral