Pilgrimage Walk No 3 - Buildwas Abbey, Shropshire

Here's a reminder and some further details for you of our pilgrimage walk this Sunday to Buildwas Abbey in Shropshire.

Buildwas Abbey is owned and managed by English Heritage and they say this about it...

"Impressive ruins of a Cistercian abbey, including its unusually unaltered 12th-century church, beautiful vaulted and tile-floored chapter house, and recently re-opened crypt chapel. In a wooded Severn-side setting, not far from the Iron Bridge and Wenlock Priory."

We'll aim to meet at the church in Sheinton, about 2 miles west of Buildwas Abbey. The route of the walk follows part of the Severn Way, going fairly close to the river in parts, and taking us along a disused railway, so it should be pretty easy walking. The walk is about 2 miles long, so we should get to Buildwas in time for lunch.

I've created a Google Map of the route.

Buildwas Abbey was a Cistercian abbey, so the theme of our pilgrimage walk will be walking in the footsteps of the Cistercians. The Cistercian monastic movement was a reformation movement within the Benedictine tradition. In particular the Cistercians wanted to return to a literal observance of the Rule of Saint Benedict, trying to reproduce the life exactly as it had been in Saint Benedict's time. In particular, the Cistercians renounced all sources of income arising from benefices, tithes, tolls and rents, and depended for their income wholly on the land. So, the most striking feature in the reform was the return to manual labour, and especially to working the land, which became a special characteristic of Cistercian life.

In the light of our discussion at Rachel & Simon's house on Sunday about simplicity, lifestyles and modern consumer culture, this may be a very poignant theme to meditate on during our walk.

Looking forward to seeing y'all there.