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.


Monday, 6 May 2024

Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of Islington


The next three Pilgrimage stations are on the low hills to the north of London. The first is just outside the medieval city, the shrine of Our Lady of the Oak at Islington. This appears to have been a wayside shrine in the churchyard by one of the principal routes in and out of medieval London. It remained an object of devotion until its destruction by burning alongside other such, more famous, statues at Chelsea in 1538.

My post about it from 2021, which also  includes links to two recent articles about contemporary ideas to restore or recreate it, can be seen at Our Lady of Islington 

May Our Lady of Islington pray for The King and all the Royal Family, and for us all.


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