ST. EDITH'S PILGRIMAGE WALK (KENT) - 14 MILES
ABOUT THE WALK & MY STORY -
Like all things in my life it was meant to be. Instead of going for a walk in the rain last Saturday, my inner voice said go to Westminster Cathedral. I wanted to go there to photograph the mosaics of St. Thomas of Canterbury in the Cardinal Vaughan chapel to add to my pilgrimage book on walking from London to Canterbury. At the same time I photographed Our Lady of Walsingham statue and the plaque on the pulpit recording the reinstatement of the pilgrimage to Walsingham. I have done them all many times. But before | could get my camera out an important mass had started so I joined the worshippers and took Holy Communion.
Afterwards, having taken the photos I visited St. Paul’s bookshop, to see if they had any pilgrimage books that I had missed. I couldn't find any! Instead I found a book on holy places in Britain; most I already knew but somewhere in the back of mind the name Kemsing reared its head. I looked and found a section about it and St. Edith’s Well in the village. I knew next Saturday I would be there and do a pilgrimage walk from Sevenoaks in Kent. I had been there a month ago to walk one of my favourite paths just outside London - the Darent Valley Path to Gravesend and River Thames - 20 miles. So I planned to use part of this walk in my pilgrimage walk. 40 years ago I had walked through Kemsing before Christmas that year following the Pilgrim Way to Canterbury from Winchester. I arrived on Christmas Eve and somehow missed Edith's well!
Like all my walks I do no planning apart from working out a route on the map. I just set off with an open mind and no preconceived ideas and just watch the miracles that unfold. It was early February with the remains of a storm passing through with strong winds. But as the day unfolded snowdrops, crocuses and daffodils were in bloom and near the end, new born lambs were in the fields; Spring was around the corner.
First I made my way through Sevenoaks and you can always tell the
wealth of a town citizens by the car showrooms. Not far from the train station I passed the Lamborghini showroom with six super-fast cars outside. Only one had a price tag - £114,000! I photographed the showroom, making a note I knew were to come when my lottery tickets came up! Then it was onto St. Nicholas church and into Knole Park: stunning landscape and came upon a herd of some 50 Roe deer. | pressed on through an exclusive estate of millionaire’s residences and reached Seal church. Ahead were the north Downs and Kemsing.
Walking into the village I passed St. Edith's Court and came to her
enclosed well. I went to it and saw the descending steps that people
had walked down centuries ago to be healed. I said a silent prayer and walked on towards the church dedicated to St. Mary the Virgin. On the way | came to the village hall and saw the statue of St. Edith, holding a cup and a sheaf of com. i noticed there was a Heritage Centre but doubted it would be open in the winter months. i was wrong, it was their AGM and was open all day; amazingly I had arrived on the onty day it was open. I explored the exhibits and photos and learnt about how the hamlet of Noah's Ark, just outside Kemsing had been so named. No one really knows for certain but the locals believe it was so named as there is a mound there which looks like an upturned boat. It is in a water-meadow where several streams meet and after prolonged rain the fields flood with just the “ark” rising above; just like the biblical version.
Gathering my newly purchased history of the village, which I got for
90% off, i walked onto the church and explored the interior and saw the stained glass windows to St. Edith (cover picture). I sat outside in the sun and ate a bar of chocolate before ascending to Otford Manor and the North Downs Way. The views were extensive and I descended through Kemsing Down to the Pilgrim’s Way between Kemsing and Otford. Although now a road walk it was good to connect with ground I had trodden so many years ago.
I knew little about Otford and came to the pond and began discovering its historical buildings, by the informative plaques, and legends and there is a Heritage Centre here too, but was closed!. Off the route were remains of the Archbishop's of Canterbury's Palace that Henry 8th came too in great pomp and ceremony before he dissolved the monasteries.
St. Bartholomew church had more stories to tell and then to my surprise there is a Becket Well here, with reputed healing properties. The last two years I have been following this saintly man, quite unknowingly, through southern England.
I still had a few miles to go, so pressed on through Otford passing the
stunning 16th. century Pickmoss House and rejoined the Darent Valley Path, passing lakes and ponds back into Sevenoaks. It had been a remarkable few hours and here in a few miles had seen a lesser known but important healing well, learnt about St. Edith, walked a part of the historic Pilgrim’s Way to Canterbury and explored the Archbishop's Palace.
I can only hope that you too have an extraordinary day exploring and
seeing several holy sites rich in history with fine views to and over the
Acknowledgements - My thanks to the Kemsing Heritage Society for
checking my guide and adding some extra information about Seal
House, Kemsing’s ghost and Otford Manor.
A5 Walk guide, placed in a plasic wrap around cover and signed by John Merrill.
Pilgrim badge and signed certiicate for successful walkers from John Merrill.
All walkers added to my Walkers Roll of Honour page.