I’m lying on my back. Directly above me is a “heaven dome” with large wooden beams. I’ve never woken up under such a high ceiling before, but I’ve never slept in a church before.
We placed pew cushions on stone slabs for added comfort, and although this may sound harsh, the pilgrims and I agree we slept pretty well, helped by pies and cider from the nearby Bridge Inn. Just as in Chaucer’s time, there’s no point in going on a pilgrimage if you can’t enjoy a hearty meal and share stories with your fellow travelers at the inn, accompanied by an impromptu celebratory performance by local musicians.
Michaelchurch St Michael’s Church at Escley in rural Herefordshire is one of the churches signing up to the new and innovative night shelter scheme organized by the British Pilgrimage Trust. Pilgrims can sleep there for a nominal £15 per person, as rural accommodation can be expensive or scarce. The foundation also organizes guided pilgrimages, where your luggage is transported from church to church for you in a “sherpa van”. All you happily need to do is carry a daypack. They will even provide a pilgrim’s staff, hand-hewn from fallen wood and of satisfactory weight.
Our pilgrim guide, Simon Lockett, gathers us in the churchyard, where we lean on our staffs – inevitably someone makes a joke about the staff meeting – and tells us about the day’s journey, then directs us with a short prayer from the First Nations of the North. America is about respecting animals.
Although this is ostensibly a Christian pilgrimage, as we travel from church to church and are guided by a priest, the Pilgrimage Foundation is always clear that it is for “those who bring their own faith” and is non-denominational. The pilgrimage route visits many pagan sites with spiritual resonance, such as ancient springs and Arthur’s Stone. The emphasis is on those making their own personal journeys, who may want peace and quiet from time to time. Guides recommend that some parts of the walk be done in silence.
But this usually happens later in the day when everyone has had time to chat a little. We set off across a wonderful green hollow carved by generations of wandering animals to the Golden Valley (surely the country’s best brand), with its towering cornfields and deep broadleaf forests where surprisingly bright rowan berries abound.
Just as in Chaucer’s time, there is no point in going on a pilgrimage if you cannot eat heartily and swap stories with your traveling companions.
The group is a mixed bunch: some from Norfolk, some from the south-east, one from Sweden; This is a replica of medieval pilgrimages, where people often traveled from abroad. Aneka enjoys the British passion for stiles, which is rare in her country.
After passing a few, we reach an unusual tree formation where oaks and ashes merge and grow from the same trunk, and hawthorns join the party. Michael, an urban builder, decides the triumvirate must be climbed and ascends to the top in sandals to the general admiration of the group.
The joy of pilgrimage is that it’s all about the journey, not the destination. As with more competitive guided walks, no one cares how fast we get somewhere. With swallows flying overhead we stop for a late breakfast at Chapel House Farm, a welcome three or four miles later. The proceedings are extended when we discover a supply of chilled Herefordshire perry to be sampled, in addition to scrambled eggs, sausage, beans, fried garlic and Mexican salad. Now, because it gets very hot if carried in our bag. This is the kind of logic that always made sense at the time.
A happy party of pilgrims summited the hill above Crasswall to see for the first time the greater part of the Black Mountains as a ridge to the west; It’s so out of scale compared to what we’ve seen before that it looks like it’s coming from underwater. To find an aircraft carrier appearing in front of you.
These mountains form the great natural barrier between Wales and England. We don’t need the motte and bailey castles we encounter to remind us that this was the scene of almost constant medieval warfare. Some swallows are determinedly attacking the hawk that dares to fly among them.
Traveling from church to church under the guidance of a priest, the pilgrimage route visits many pagan sites with spiritual resonance
I have walked Offa’s Dyke Way along the top of the Black Mountains and looked across Wales to England – and speculated how tempting the green fields of Herefordshire might be to Welsh raiders determined to test the resolve of the marching lords who protect them; But for the first time I see the view looking up.
After a pleasant walk southwards across the mountains, we reach the church at Clodock, which flies a union jack defiantly in case any Welshman looks down. The bar next door, the Cornewall Arms, is so small it’s essentially a sitting room with a door leading to the kitchen. Only one beer is kept on tap, and a few shaven-headed farmers play a game of quoit with passing pilgrims.
There is still on the vestry wall in St Clydawg’s church a list of local taxes from 1805 detailing the tithes payable: two and a halfpence for each cow milked, but only twopence for any cow barren. ; fourpence for any foal; and twopence for hay stored each day. Parishioners commemorated in the cemetery, such as the wonderfully named Theophilus Cope, must have paid considerable dues.
A pooled, dappled stream runs past the bar, providing the perfect way to wake up the next morning with a swim under the overhanging trees. Then, venture a little further deeper into the forest to find the charismatic “lost” Llancillo Church, which is no longer in service but not entirely abandoned; A fine organization called Friends of Friendless Churches maintains it. The large Celtic cross has a base large enough to fit our group of nine while eating a packed lunch.
This is a created pilgrimage rather than an ancient walk, and is largely the initiative of our guide, Simon. Simon has been a local pastor for the last 18 years and is also a farmer, rural ranger and environmental activist. He wanted a way for local people and visitors to experience Herefordshire’s deep spiritual past, prehistoric and Christian. The entire walk takes seven days – shorter options are also available – and starts and ends at Hereford Cathedral, making a wide circle around the Gold and Wye Valleys for around 60 miles. Detailed instructions on the foundation’s website mean you can self-guide and still stay in churches or occasionally sign up for group walks like ours.
With the liberation of being away from home, people are saying things to strangers that they wouldn’t share with family or friends
The British Pilgrimage Foundation went from Southampton to Canterbury in honor of Thomas Becket and later went to Henry VIII because it did not want to honor a troublesome priest. While it encourages the revival of some ancient routes, such as the Old Way closed by Henry VIII, it also creates new ones and in doing so revives the vitality of the pilgrimage call. Creating new routes is a sign of spiritual health.
Perhaps now more than ever the pilgrimage has more appeal; That is why the number of pilgrims on the famous Camino in Spain to Santiago de Compostela has increased from less than 10,000 30 years ago to over 200,000 today. We visit for those who want to reflect on their own lives or the lives of recently deceased relatives, or for those who want to tap into the deep waters of the English past, such as the well of Saint Clodock; pilgrimage may meet a need.
I found the social aspect appealing. There is a different and interesting dynamic in a pilgrimage group: the feeling you give yourself as you go, rather than the feeling that you are a paying customer waiting for everything to be delivered, although you may be. You contribute to a group and share your experiences, some of which may emerge gradually as you get to know each other throughout the journey. The scope of the topics I learned is vast, from how to make blue cheese to the difference between native oak and turkey oak. And as must have happened to pilgrims in the past, with the liberation of being away from home, people say things to strangers that they cannot share with family or friends. In any case, we sleep together every night, even though we’re in a different church each time.
British Pilgrimage Trust’s guided walks in 2024 to escape 8 May – 12 May (four days £450), 10 June – 16 June (7 days £740) and 18 September-22 September (four days £450). Or self guide using the instructions at britishpilgrimage.org.