A history of paths, places and people
If you could buy a stick of pilgrim rock it would have ‘Chaucer’ written all the way through it. You simply can’t separate the man and his Canterbury Tales from what pilgrimage to Canterbury means to us today.
But Chaucer is not the be-all and end-all of pilgrimage in Kent. There is a much bigger picture, reflecting the fact that pilgrims travelled to Canterbury not just along the famous routes from London or Winchester but from all parts of England, and from abroad.
There are also significant pilgrim shrines in Rochester, Folkestone, Ramsgate and other towns and villages.
And there are many other pilgrim routes to them, including the Augustine Camino, the Via Francigena, the Way of St Martin, the Old Way, the Royal Saxon Way and the Royal Kentish Camino.
This book explores them all.
Kent’s Pilgrim Routes is published by Amberley.
It is available from them or on Amazon or from any physical or online bookseller
This companion website offers essential information about the routes, and downloadable route maps.
Use the links below or the drop-down menu at the top of this page to find
1: Chaucer’s Pilgrims’ Way
From London to Canterbury via Watling Street
2: Hilaire Belloc’s Old Road
The Pilgrims’ Way from Winchester to Canterbury via the North Downs
3: Canterbury
4: The Augustine Camino
From Rochester to Canterbury via Faversham
5: The Via Francigena and the Way of St Martin
Canterbury to Dover and Dover to Canterbury
6: The Old Way
Southampton to Canterbury via Romney Marsh
7: The Royal Saxon Way and The Royal Kentish Camino
Folkestone to Minster-in-Thanet, and Canterbury to Folkestone