Our guided events are easy, accessible introductions to ‘bring your own beliefs’ pilgrimage in Britain and to great destinations. These guided pilgrimages are emotionally private and stress-free, with us taking care of the logistics. Learn about the cultural heritage of an area, connect with nature, and be a pilgrim. Enrich your mind and heart, meet like-minded people and boost your mood.
Sat 16th March Introduction to Pilgrimage: Wayfinding and Pilgrim Practice (Lewes); 8 miles, 10.15am – 5.30pm; £60 per pilgrim. Want to make pilgrimage but not so confident? Leave the map-reading worries at home and discover how to have rewarding pilgrimages. Our 1 day introduction to pilgrimage will give you the basics in a friendly, informal and supportive setting. It’s just the chance to get familiar with following routes in the countryside, combined with a taster of what makes pilgrimage so special in the glorious South Downs.
This pilgrimage will include: pre-journey guidance on digital mapping and an online session for support. A morning getting familiar with different wayfinding techniques, such as using live-location and pre-mapped routes on your phone. An afternoon of guided pilgrimage introducing various pilgrim practices. These help you to find a deeper level of connection through your journey creating meaning through experience. These might include sensory experiences; songs, stories and folklore; opportunities for silence or barefoot walking; wildflower folklore or foraging.
More Info & Book Tickets for Introduction to Pilgrimage, 15th MarchPilgrimage Today: Find Your Direction – Evensong + Symposium
St James’ Clerkenwell, London, 5-10pm, Wed 17 Apr 2024. We invite you to our special event on the anniversary of the day that Chaucer’s pilgrims set out from London to make their way to Canterbury, to celebrate another year of building pilgrimage in Britain and to hear from BPT patrons and friends, and some song.
Optional start for choral evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral, then a mini-pilgrimage to St James’ Church, where the symposium talks will be.
Speakers:
Tom Holland – an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster
Phoebe Smith – an adventurer and podcast host
Dr Rupert Sheldrake – biologist and pilgrimage innovator
Galahad Clark – a seventh-generation cobbler, founder of Vivobarefoot
Ruby Reed – co-founder of Advaya and land skills platform Earthed
Sat 20th April Ridgeway, Uffington White Horse & St George – 1 Day Pilgrimage; 6 miles, 10.30am – 4.30pm; £50 per pilgrim. The Vale of the White Horse is one of Britain’s great prehistoric outdoor pilgrim places. Walk it with BPT’s pilgrim, historian and keen naturalist Dawn Champion ahead of St George’s Day, in the place where the legendary dragon was slain. This 6-mile walking route draws together Pagan and Christian holy places. Journey back to a different way of being human. This is prime Ridgeway landscape and once a centre of prehistoric ritual practice.
This pilgrimage will include: Waylands Smithy, the Uffington White Horse, Dragon Hill, Uffington Castle, the sacred springs of Woolstone Wells, and the ancient churches of Woolstone and Compton Beauchamp. Plus many pilgrim practices such as new ways of meeting holy places (bring your own beliefs!); pilgrim songs, stories and folklore on the path; opportunities for silence or barefoot walking; wildwater drinking or wildflower foraging; rediscovering your place in the British pilgrimage tradition; natural beauty and wild places.
More Info & Book Tickets for Ridgeway Uffington White Horse & St George 20th AprilGrounded Pilgrim Retreat – Vivobarefoot x BPT
Broughton Sanctuary, Fri 3 May – Tue 7 May 2024. We are proud to announce a partnership with Vivobarefoot to launch the first fully-conductive Grounded Vivobarefoot shoe, named “The Pilgrim”. As well as being a Wide, Thin & Flexible barefoot design bringing you closer to the earth and natural movement, the Pilgrim shoe will provide further grounding by conducting your body’s electrons straight into the ground. Several health benefits are associated with grounding, such as stress reduction, anti-inflammatory, sleep improvement and gut health. A series of pilgrimages will be held in May/June to celebrate the launch of this exciting next step for Vivobarefoot, starting with this exclusive retreat in Broughton Sanctuary.
About Broughton Sanctuary
Recently voted one of the top 30 places to stay in the world by National Geographic Traveller, Broughton Sanctuary is the UK’s leading transformational 3000-acre retreat centre. Home to one of Britain’s most exciting and extensive nature recovery projects, the pristinely-restored Historic House dates back to 1597 and is complemented by Avalon, a purpose-built biophilic, state-of-the-art Wellbeing Centre.
At Broughton you will recharge and reconnect in blissful nature, enjoy nutritious food and experiences ranging from a Labyrinth, a Fire Temple Celebration, a Floatation Tank, Yoga, and Woodland Dining. Discover Wild Wellbeing from Star Gazing, Ice Bathing, Wild Swimming, Woodland Saunas, Hot Tubs and more. The bedrooms are sumptuous. From this Sanctuary we will venture out each day into the Yorkshire Dales and Pendle Hill (where Quakerism was born) to find our direction.
More Info & Book Tickets for Grounded Pilgrim Retreat – BPT x Vivobarefoot 3-7 May9th – 12th May Golden Valley 4-Day Pilgrimage 35 miles, £450. A 4-day Pilgrimage, looping around the Golden Valley, starting and ending at Hereford Cathedral, with the option to stay overnight in Cathedral Cloisters on Wednesday 8th May. The Way links the Wye Valley with the Golden Valley and the flower meadows and foothills of the Black Mountains. Once you leave the city and its cathedral behind, this is a rich and silent land, good for the body as well as the soul. Discover apple orchards, sacred springs, ruined castles, holy wells, and Arthurian legends as well as hidden farms that produce local ciders. Uniquely, along the way, you can camp along the way with roll mat and sleeping bag overnight in one of three medieval churches in Tyberton, Dorstone and Madley (Sanctuaries). A beautifully illustrated pilgrim credential or passport can be stamped in each church. All but one of these churches is situated in villages with fine country pubs where we will eat local produce at the end of a day of walking.
More Info & Book Tickets for Golden Valley 4 Day Pilgrimage in MayTue 14th May London Sovereign Pilgrimage: Vivobarefoot X BPT 10:00am – 4:30pm £50, 5 miles. With BPT’s Guy Hayward singing London songs along the way, you will delve into the heart of England’s history in the modern city, and be introduced to ways of grounding your bodies even within the urban spaces of London. From the early 14th century until the reign of Charles II, a procession would be led for each coronation along this ancient way from the Tower to Westminster Abbey. The 5-mile route passes through the Temple Bar portal between the commercial City of London and the political and priestly City of Westminster. There are many beautiful historic churches, places of sanctuary and peace, as well as holy wells, ancient stones and a Roman Temple. The concentration of pilgrim places is particularly high in the City of London, where the churches are only open on weekdays. Take in relics of an old mythic enchantment, when London was thought to be the New Troy, and Westminster Abbey was the holy of holies.
In partnership with Vivobarefoot to launch the first fully-conductive Grounded Vivobarefoot shoe: “The Pilgrim”. With your ticket you will automatically register to possibly be gifted a pair of these new shoes to walk in.
More Info & Book Tickets for London Sovereign Vivobarefoot x BPTSat 18th May Ancient Watchers of Kingley Vale to Chichester 10.30am – 5.30pm, £50, 8 miles. Guided by BPT’s historian and naturalist Dawn Champion, pilgrims will experience a journey deeply rooted in nature and wildlife, from the enigmatic Ancient Watcher yew trees of Kingley Vale to the magnificent Chichester Cathedral. Ascend wildflower-strewn paths to the top of Kingley Vale with its Bronze Age tumuli. From the breathtaking views of the South Downs and the English Channel, we wander down through the yew grove called the ‘Ancient Watchers’. From here we will walk on to explore ancient churches, and chestnut woodland perhaps with bluebells on show. We will arrive at Chichester Cathedral for Evensong a counterpoint to the birdsong experienced throughout the day.
More Info & Book Tickets for Kingley Vale to ChichesterSun 2 Jun Avebury Grounded Pilgrimage: Vivobarefoot x BPT 10:00am – 5:30pm, 7.5 miles. Walk with BPT Director Guy Hayward to discover and experience Avebury’s pilgrim places. Mother Earth will nurture us in this ancient landscape and ground us in our ancestral past. Experience the majesty of the largest prehistoric stone circle in the world, before heading along the Ridgeway to the even older Sanctuary, an ancient meeting point from which the West Kennet Avenue once extended all the way to Avebury. Then rise to West Kennet’s Long Barrow, and maybe hum in this wonderful acoustic, vocally resonating with the spirits of old. We eat our packed lunches, onwards to the source of the River Kennet, the Swallowhead Springs and their watchful guardian trees. Next is the largest (and most mysterious) prehistoric mound in Europe – Silbury Hill; then it’s over Waden Hill, before descending to what remains of the West Kennet Stone Avenue, through which you wind your way back to the Tolkien trees that inspired the Ents, and finally experience the majesty of the largest prehistoric stone circle in the world by communing with Avebury’s magnificent stones.
In partnership with Vivobarefoot to launch the first fully-conductive Grounded Vivobarefoot shoe: “The Pilgrim”. With your ticket you will automatically register to possibly be gifted a pair of these new shoes to walk in.
More Info & Book Tickets for Avebury Grounded Pilgrimage: Vivo Barefoot x BPTSun 9th June Glastonbury Grounded Pilgrimage (Vivobarefoot x BPT) – 5 miles, 10.15am-5.15pm. £60 per pilgrim. Glastonbury is one of Britain’s oldest and greatest pilgrimage destinations. This beautiful day route, 5 miles long around Glastonbury centres around two things: healing water and the rich overlay of traditions and stories. Led by BPT’s Guy, there will be lots of dialogue between folklore and religion – think Arthur, Guinevere & Morgan Le Fay, the man who buried Jesus, the Holy Grail, the goddesses of Ceridwen, Bride & Brigid. You will meet St Margaret’s Chapel, Wearyall Holy Thorn, Goddess Temple, the old oaks of Gog Magog, the Tor and its Egg Stone, the White Spring, the Chalice Red Spring.
The pilgrimage will include: Telling many folkloric tales that mesh ancient Pagan and Christian stories – New ways of meeting holy places – Pilgrim songs on the path – Opportunities for silence – Rediscovering your place in the British pilgrimage tradition – Natural beauty – Elemental power.
More Info & Book Tickets for Glastonbury, 2nd June10th – 16th June Golden Valley 7-Day Pilgrimage 60 miles, £740. A 7-day Pilgrimage, looping around the Golden Valley, starting and ending at Hereford Cathedral, with the option to stay overnight in Cathedral Cloisters on Wednesday 8th May. The Way links the Wye Valley with the Golden Valley and the flower meadows and foothills of the Black Mountains. Once you leave the city and its cathedral behind, this is a rich and silent land, good for the body as well as the soul. Discover apple orchards, sacred springs, ruined castles, holy wells, and Arthurian legends as well as hidden farms that produce local ciders. Uniquely, along the way, you can camp along the way with roll mat and sleeping bag overnight in one of three medieval churches in Tyberton, Dorstone and Madley (Sanctuaries). A beautifully illustrated pilgrim credential or passport can be stamped in each church. All but one of these churches is situated in villages with fine country pubs where we will eat local produce at the end of a day of walking.
More Info & Book Tickets for Avebury Grounding Pilgrimage: Vivo Barefoot x BPTJune: Resetting Yourself – 2 Day Sussex pilgrimage with Peter Owen Jones – Coming Soon
July: Malvern Hills – Stones and Waters Geological Pilgrimage – Coming Soon
August: Haven of Cuckmere – 2 Day Pilgrimage – Coming Soon
18th – 22nd Sept Golden Valley 4-Day Pilgrimage 35 miles, £450. A 4-day Pilgrimage, looping around the Golden Valley, starting and ending at Hereford Cathedral, with the option to stay overnight in Cathedral Cloisters on Wednesday 8th May. The Way links the Wye Valley with the Golden Valley and the flower meadows and foothills of the Black Mountains. Once you leave the city and its cathedral behind, this is a rich and silent land, good for the body as well as the soul. Discover apple orchards, sacred springs, ruined castles, holy wells, and Arthurian legends as well as hidden farms that produce local ciders. Uniquely, along the way, you can camp along the way with roll mat and sleeping bag overnight in one of three medieval churches in Tyberton, Dorstone and Madley (Sanctuaries). A beautifully illustrated pilgrim credential or passport can be stamped in each church. All but one of these churches is situated in villages with fine country pubs where we will eat local produce at the end of a day of walking.
More Info & Book Tickets for Golden Valley 4 Day Pilgrimage in September
September: Winchester Circular Pilgrimage – Coming Soon
November: Silent Pilgrimage to Canterbury – Coming Soon
December: Canterbury Candlelight Wassail – Coming Soon
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If you would like to book a private guided pilgrimage for just you and your friends, please get in touch via [info [@] britishpilgrimage.org], prices available on enquiry.