Canterbury Cathedral – England’s Premier Pilgrim Centre

Canterbury Cathedral has just appointed a dedicated pilgrim officer as it seeks to re-establish itself as England’s ultimate pilgrimage destination.

Canterbury harks back to its medieval roots as England’s premier pilgrim centre

Canterbury was once as big a pilgrim destination as Rome and Compostela and it was the Camino to Santiago de Compostela that first brought Torin Brown to Canterbury and  Christ Church University to read theology.

He worked part time as a shepherd at Canterbury Cathedral whilst studying. This role put him in direct contact with pilgrims and based on his own pilgrimage experience he started greeting them, stamping their Pilgrim Passport, arranging a blessing for them, and taking a photo at the pilgrim stone in the Cathedral precincts.

Photo credit – Rebecca Crone

He was so moved by the pilgrims’ reactions that he wanted to know more about their motivation and decided to start collecting data about their journey.

Information gleaned so far shows that pilgrimage is undoubtedly growing, and that the main reason is ‘spirituality’.

This is helping shape the pilgrim mission at Canterbury and Torin is working with other cathedrals and strategic partners in gathering and sharing data to get a bigger picture of pilgrimage across the UK.

Torin said:

‘Pilgrimage as a religious ritual to a sacred space is an ancient practice that appears to be enjoying quite a renaissance in our post-pandemic, climate sensitive era.

‘There seems to be an undeniable spiritual thirst for what religious people experience as transcendent realities – that characteristic of pilgrimage which can bridge the gap between the sacred and the profane in extraordinary places where the veil is believed to be especially thin. 

‘It can provide a space where the big questions of life, death and suffering can be offered up for profound contemplation and cathedrals and shrines can represent an axis mundi for this meaning-seeking.’

Canterbury was once as big a pilgrim destination as Rome and Compostela, and the dream is to establish a pilgrim office or centre where all pilgrims can visit to ‘check-in’ and tell their story.

‘Our vision is to be the premier site of pilgrimage in England built around a core strategy of sanctuary and hope, and I am excited to play my part in that by raising the profile of pilgrimage and the pilgrim welcome,’ he added.

Exciting projects celebrating and exploring pilgrimage are planned at Canterbury including playing a key role in the city’s pilgrimage- themed Medieval Pageant this summer.

If you want to take part in the pilgrim survey – share more about your journey via this short online form.