St Augustine & Early Christianity Tour
Sent by Pope Gregory to re-establish Christianity in England after the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons, St Augustine founded the Christian Church in southern England and was the first Archbishop of Canterbury. Augustine gradually introduced Christianity by consecrating pagan temples for Christian worship and converting festivals into martyrs' feast days. Follow Augustine's route, back then fraught with danger, along the south coast and trace the development of early Christianity as it spread across the UK.
Highlight
- Picturesque Canterbury and the Cathedral Church of Christ, built on the site of St Augustine's first Cathedral.
- St Augustine's Abbey, which St Augustine built as the burial place for the Kings and Archbishops of Kent and where his body was eventually interred.
- St Martin's Church in Canterbury, St Augustine's base for his mission when he first arrived.
- Full day tracing early Christianity in London, including Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral, the Roman Catholic Cathedral which was completed in 1903. Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral.
- Ebbsfleet, to see the stone cross commemorating St Augustine's landing in 597AD.
- Reculver and the remains of the Saxon Church built by St Augustine and his converts.
- Pretty Chilham, where it was rumoured St Augustine was buried and the medieval churches of the Romney Marshes.
- Rochester Cathedral, on the site of an early Anglo-Saxon church. A place of Christian worship for nearly 1400 years.
- Aylesford Priory, an ancient religious house of the Order of Carmelites.
- Bury St Edmunds Abbey, named for the martyred Anglo-Saxon King St Edmund, and the remains of one of the wealthiest and most powerful Benedictine monasteries in England. Also St Edmund’s Cathedral.
- The Shrine of ‘Our Lady of Walsingham’ commemorating the apparition of the Blessed Virgin.
- Glastonbury, where legend claims Joseph of Arimathea buried the Holy Grail. Stonehenge and its prehistoric stone circle.
Photo credits:
Slideshow: Canterbury Cathedral © the Chapter of Canterbury Cathedry; St Augustine's Abbey © English Heritage; Rochester Cathedral.
Photos to the right of the tour: Reculver Towers © Historic England; St Martin's Church, Canterbury © dronesdeep.com;
