Once I was a clever boy learning the arts of Oxford... is a quotation from the verses written by Bishop Richard Fleming (c.1385-1431) for his tomb in Lincoln Cathedral. Fleming, the founder of Lincoln College in Oxford, is the subject of my research for a D. Phil., and, like me, a son of the West Riding. I have remarked in the past that I have a deeply meaningful on-going relationship with a dead fifteenth century bishop... it was Fleming who, in effect, enabled me to come to Oxford and to learn its arts, and for that I am immensely grateful.


Saturday 22 May 2021

Our Lady of Aylesford


As the Marian pilgrimage is in Kent it seems only right and just to include the restored medieval Carmelite priory at Aylesford on the banks of the Medway.

Founded in 1242, and the site of the General Chapter in 1247 at which the Carmelites resolved to move from an etemitic life to one as mendicant friars, it was dissolved in 1538. Substantial parts of the original buildings survived and were reacquired by the Carmelites in 1949 and a friary re-established.

All four of the mendicant orders claim a special  relationship with the Virgin Mary so a Carmelite shrine fits well into this pilgrimage. The friary is dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption.

Flos Carmeli 
Modern glass by Moira Forsyth in the Cloister Chapel at Aylesford
Image: Wikipedia 

The Friary website can be seen at Aylesford Priory and the Wikipedia account is at Aylesford Priory


Our Lady of Aylesford Pray for us


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