A pilgrimage that included a walk through a grove of ancient yew trees was both a history lesson and celebration of the Feast of Corpus Christi

The solemnity of the body and blood of Christ, which we celebrate this Sunday, was given a new and vivid aspect for me on a day pilgrimage that passed through Kingley Vale in West Sussex. We walked through the “Ancient Watchers” grove of yew trees, which our British Pilgrimage Trust guide told us were a trad- itional symbol of the Eucharist. We saw why with our own eyes: as the bark flaked off the yew branches it revealed the tree beneath, apparently bleeding with bright red blood. Meanwhile other areas of yew wood were revealed as pure white. As Blue Badge guide Sean Callery writes: “The heart of the tree is red, while its sap is white. These colours sym- bolise the blood and body of Christ.”

The effect of blood running down the branches was probably increased that day because it was raining. Undeterred, we went ahead, following the part of the Old Way from Stoughton to Chichester. This runs for 150 miles from Southampton to Canterbury, and is marked on Britain’s oldest road map, the Gough Map of c.1360. It was the route followed by many pilgrims who arrived by sea from all over Europe to visit Thomas Becket’s tomb after his 1170 martyrdom.