Saint Godric of Finchale, the man who inaugurated the English Way

When we think of the English Way, our minds almost automatically turn to the northern Galician Rias, the deep green of the province of A Coruña, and the large ships filled with travellers from the British Isles.

But have you ever wondered who the pioneer of this great route was? Today we have to travel back in time to the 19th century to learn the name of Saint Godric of Finchale, traditionally considered the first British pilgrim on record to have reached Santiago de Compostela.

Godric, born in Norfolk around the year 1065, had a life that could have come straight out of an adventure novel. Before retiring as a hermit and being venerated as a saint, he was a true old salt. He began working as a travelling salesman, and his ambition led him to become a major maritime merchant and, according to some research from the time, even a pirate. He sailed tirelessly through the seas of northern Europe, and the vastness of the waters, the isolation, and the constant dangers of seafaring life forged in him a profound spirituality. After three years of accumulating wealth, he felt an irresistible inner calling that led him to give up his possessions, forgive his enemies, and begin an unceasing search for redemption.

In the early 12th century, it is estimated that between the years 1102 and 1106, long before the route had the infrastructure we know today, Godric set out on his journey from Durham. After Jerusalem and Rome, he set his course towards the end of the known world: Santiago de Compostela. Travel at that time was utter madness. Crossing the freezing waters of the Cantabrian Sea in a medieval wooden vessel was no easy task for anyone. Fierce storms, disease, hunger, and the threat of other ships were the main dangers of that journey.

Although there are no records of the port where Godric set foot on land, the navigation logic of the time suggests that A Coruña or Ferrol were the natural landing points. Once there, he exchanged the unstable English vessel for the firmness of the green lands of Galicia. He walked along the same paths, dense woodlands, and stone bridges that today thousands of pilgrims follow until they finally stand before the tomb of the Apostle.

The Birth of a Millennium-Old Route

Although Godric’s journey may have seemed like a solitary feat, it was soon followed by others. His return to England and the stories of his pilgrimage marked the beginning of a great tradition. As the years went by, more and more ships crossed the seas filled with devotees who could be English, Irish, Scottish, or even Scandinavian, who, on their way to the Holy Land or even to the Iberian Peninsula, would pause their journey to pay tribute to the Apostle in Santiago.

Wars and political instability in Europe made overland travel through France a dangerous journey, causing the English Way to become one of the preferred routes for devotees from the north. The ports of A Coruña and Ferrol were filled with pilgrims, and Galician society quickly adapted to this new normal with the creation of hospitals, religious orders, and monasteries along the route to provide “assistance” to travellers.

Today, when a pilgrim reaches northern Galicia and begins walking towards Compostela, they are simply following the invisible line that Saint Godric of Finchale drew almost a thousand years ago.