Come on pilgrim...

Throughout history and across time, pilgrimage has carried joyful associations of adventure and hospitality between strangers. Early pilgrimages were a celebration – with music, food and stories shared along the way.

The pilgrim flask is a traditional form (tracing back as far as 450AD) that powerfully symbolises travel and sharing. Later, in medieval times, the scallop shell became a symbol of pilgrimage too - perhaps initially as a token carried home for luck, or a simple drinking cup picked up along the way. A pilgrimage could be an imagined journey too, simply by counting out the steps in your daily life.

This series began as an imagined journey along the river Thames. Flowing eastwards towards the dawn, the river has long been a site of pilgrimage. Ancient Celts cast offerings of treasure into her waters. Medieval travellers followed her winding tributaries to holy sites. Artists and writers find inspiration in her depths. Our pilgrimage need not be holy – it can be as simple as finding succour with a company of friends, in a quiet bend of water, a kingfisher dipping behind reeds, or a writer’s thoughtful words.