World Monuments Fund Britain 2024 Paul Mellon Lecture– Travellers’ Tales: The Heritage of Pilgrimage

People have been going on pilgrimages for centuries, travelling far and wide to places such as Canterbury, Rome and Mecca. Even today, Lourdes and Santiago continue to attract thousands of worshippers each week.

This year, our annual UK Mellon Lecture explores the heritage of pilgrimage – why is the past important and how have the traditions of pilgrimage changed over time? Has pilgrimage always been about religion or has it served a broader, non-secular purpose? How does the heritage of pilgrimage help shape its future? John Darlington, WMF Britain’s Director of Projects, is joined by the Strata Florida Trust’s Professor David Austin; Dr. Guy Hayward, co-founder of the British Pilgrimage Trust; and Reverend Kate Bottley, Vicar, Journalist and Media Presenter at St. George’s Bloomsbury, a 2002 World Monuments Watch Site.

This event was made possible by the Paul Mellon Fund for Architectural Preservation in Great Britain.