England/Scotland 2024 Pilgrimage – Itinerary

London, here we come!

Tomorrow, September 1, 2024, Gregg and I are beginning a pilgrimage of sorts to England and Scotland. We return September 20. Our desire is to visit some places significant to early church history, along with secular spots.

The idea for this trip was born last fall as we listened to Father Joe, our priest at Episcopal Church of Our Saviour in Jacksonville (Mandarin), Florida, describe his sabbatical pilgrimage. Not knowing whether he will ever lead a trip, we decided to put one together ourselves for this year.

Deciding Where to Go

Gregg loves history and has been learning about Christianity’s spread into the areas we now know as England and Scotland. He spent hours doing research and made a long “short list” of churches we might like to visit. He is especially interested in the churches that represent faith communities established in the 500’s and 600’s AD.

We went through the list church by church and painfully chose many to cross off the list. So many churches, not enough time.

Speaking of time, we aren’t sure how long we will want to stay in any certain area, nor how long it will take to drive from place to place. Therefore, we have made housing reservations for only the first four nights of our trip. Yup, we’re “winging it.”

Itinerary

Here is the current list of places we want to visit:

• London – arrive Sept 2, rent car
• Liverpool, England to see Everton’s stadiums and sleep
• Iona, Scotland – a small island in the Inner Hebrides
  • for 2 nights (take a car ferry then a people/only ferry to get there)
• Inverness, Scotland – capital city of the Scottish Highlands
• St Andrews – Fife, Scotland
• Edinburgh, Scotland
• Lindisfarne (now called Holy Island), England – a tidal island off Northumberland coast
• Breedon on the Hill, England
• Jarrow Hall: Anglo-Saxon Farm, Village, and Bede Museum, England
• Durham Cathedral, England – Norman style, 11th century
• Whitby Abbey, England – founded in 657 AD
• York Minster, England – 14th century
• St. Julian’s in Norwich, England – 12th century
• St. Peter’s Chapel, South Minster, England – 12th century
• Holy Trinity Church, Cambridge, England – 13th century
• St. Albans, England – a city in Hertfordshire, England, known for its Roman ruins and cathedral
• Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, England – founded 1525
• St. Edward’s Church, Oxford, England
• Reculver Towers and Roand Fort, Canterbury, England area – built in 3rd century
• Canterbury Cathedral, Canterbury, England – 11th century
• St. Paul’s Church, London, England – 17th century
• Westminster Cathedral, London, England – 19th century
• Westminster Abbey, London, England – founded in 960 AD
• The British Library, London, England – founded in 1759

Gregg’s Blog

Gregg wrote a blog post, introducing our trip and detailing Great Britain’s early Christianity timeline. You can read that post here: Celtic Christianity Pilgrimage by Gregg Friend

If you have any tips or suggestions or “must see” (or “must eat”) things in these areas, feel free to hit reply if you’ve received this post via email. Or send a message through the “contact” page.

Thanks for traveling vicariously with us!

Kristin Emily Friend

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