Canterbury-Becket Way

The Becket Way from Southwark to Canterbury – 90 miles, 11 days

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The alternative starting point of the Pilgrims Way to Canterbury (as opposed to Winchester) is Southwark, in London, and the route joins at Otford/Kemsing with the Winchester to Canterbury Pilgrims Way (aka North Downs Pilgrims Way). This alternative start is called the Becket Way because it is believed that this is the journey that Becket himself made to and from London.

Southwark was within the vast Winchester Diocese, and the Bishop of Winchester had his London home next to Southwark Priory (now the Cathedral). As a pilgrim, from Southwark you follow the path of the long-distance Roman road of Watling Street that for centuries was in constant use. On your way out of London you pass across the vast open space of Blackheath before having your last glimpse of the capital city at Shooters Hill, after which you detour from Watling Street to Lesnes Abbey, dedicated to Thomas Becket, and its mulberry tree. After Dartford, many pilgrims turned south to join the Winchester–Canterbury Pilgrims’ Way at Otford and this route takes you down the Darenth Valley, where Archbishop Becket held land and first fell out with the king, and via Farningham, where Archbishop of Canterbury St Alphege was once Lord of the Manor, before you come to the juncture at Kemsing and join the thoroughfare of the North Downs Pilgrims’ Way from Winchester.

The North Downs are geologically certain to have been an ancient trackway from East to West. The Downs are a Ridgeway of chalky soil that was easier to clear than the clay-rich valley bottom – the Weald (or Wild!) lands of thick forest the Romans called Andredsweald. In a world without compasses (or GPS) the North Downs offer an excellent navigational failsafe, allowing pilgrims and travellers entering from Europe to safely find their way West into England (or vice versa).

And pilgrims certainly followed this path in their many thousands, especially during the Medieval heyday of British pilgrimage. Plenty of evidence, both obvious and archaeolgical, attests to the certainty of this track being well-used for thousands of years.

Today, the Pilgrims Way from Farnham is a designated National Trail. Visit the websites of the North Downs Way, Leigh Hatts, author of the Cicerone guide to the route, and former North Downs Way trail officer Derek Bright to discover a great deal about how to follow this trackway. There is an astonishing amount of information available about this ancient path.

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Highlights
Southwark Cathedral
Lesnes Abbey and its Mulberry Tree
Green path of Darenth Valley
Historic Rochester Cathedral

And, of course, the destination of Canterbury Cathedral.

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See North Downs Way National Trail website

See Cicerone Guide Author Leigh Hatt's Pilgrims Way website

See Derek Bright's website

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