2006 Visit to England

Augustine was the prior of the monastery of St. Andrew’s in Rome. Pope Gregory sent him to England to evangelize the pagan Saxons. When he arrived in England in 597, the Saxon king allowed him to reside in Canterbury, the center of his kingdom. On Christmas Day of 597, Augustine baptized Ethelbert and thousands of his subjects. Canterbury became the center of the mission to the Saxons and eventually of the Church of England. Augustine built a monastery in Canterbury that is now in ruins.

Augustine died in 605 and was buried in the monastery that he built.

There has been a church on this site since the Roman occupation of Britain in the third century. The present cathedral was built in the eleventh century. The current archbishop of Canterbury is the 104th since Augustine.

 When William the Conqueror defeated the English king Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, he fulfilled his vow to God and built an abbey at the site of his victory. The high altar of the church was built over the exact site where Harold was pierced with an arrow in his eye. The Battle Abbey is now a ruin.

The actual site where the Battle of Hastings was fought.

The ruined abbey at Glastonbury is supposedly the site of the mystical land of Avalon and the burial site of King Arthur. According to legend, Jesus visited Glastonbury as a boy with his uncle Joseph of Arimathea.

In 495, several fishermen saw a vision of Michael the Archangel on top of this island in Mounts Bay. The site became a holy shrine; pilgrims from all over Europe visited it during the Middle Ages.

These well-worn pilgrims steps lead to the top of St Michael's Mount.

St Michael’s Mount is a tidal island. At low tide, an isthmus connects it to the mainland. This view is at high tide, but you can see the path that is available at low tide.