St Boniface Way launch day

The day began at Holy Cross Church, Crediton, with an inspiring talk from A Rocha UK about caring for creation; featuring the powerful call to ‘refuse consumerism’ in our fight to save the planet.

From there the first pilgrims set off to walk the first stage to the village of Shobrooke. Here we dressed the Holy Well, a stone’s throw from St Swithun’s Church where the local community received the accolade of ‘Highly Commended’ in the Devon’s Best Churchyard award. We joined them to plant 300 crocus bulbs before heading off toward Newton St Cyres for the second stage of the way.

Upon reaching the beautiful Church of St Cyr and St Julitta in Newton St Cyres, the pilgrims took a much-deserved rest and regained their strength with delicious (and plentiful) cakes baked by some wonderful volunteers.

While a committed few proceeded to walk the rest of the route to Exeter Cathedral, the rest of us took the bus into the city where we were privileged to hear a Choral Compline from a visiting choir, followed by a talk about the history of pilgrimage and the spiritual significance of our holy places and buildings.

St Boniface Way pays homage to its namesake, the patron saint of Devon, and reflects on his Benedictine traditions of prayer, work and study. The route in its entirety spans some 14 miles from Crediton (the birthplace of St Boniface) through farmland and tiny villages, to Exeter (his place of study).