Pilgrims' Way

From Freepedia

The Pilgrims' Way is reputedly the route taken by pilgrims to the shrine of Thomas Becket from Winchester in Hampshire to Canterbury in Kent, England. Part of the route, from London, was followed by the storytellers in The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.

The title is somewhat misleading. The route taken by the Way follows a very ancient trackway (500–450 BC) which ran from east to west at the foot of the North Downs hills. It took advantage of the contours and avoided the sticky clay of the land below. The trackway ran the entire length of the North Downs, leading to and from Folkestone: the pilgrims turned north along the River Stour valley near Chilham to reach Canterbury.

Route

On modern Ordnance Survey maps, part of the route is shown running west from Farnham, passing to the south of Guildford, north of the village of Gomshall, north of Dorking, Reigate, Merstham, Godstone, Limpsfield and Westerham, through Otford, Kemsing and Wrotham, north of Trottiscliffe, towards Cuxton (where it crossed the River Medway), then south of Rochester through the villages of Burham, Boxley, Detling and continuing in a south-east direction to the north of the villages of Harrietsham and Lenham.