The Pilgrimage now travels from Westminster along The Strand with its episcopal residences and the Inns of Court and of Chancery to Temple Bar and Ludgate before stopping at the now tragically lost medieval Cathedral of St Paul.
The nave of St Paul’s - ‘Paul’s Walk’ - by Wenceslas Hollar
The shrine was at the further end on the south side
Image: Wikipedia
My post from last year together with links to previous post about this shrine can be seen at Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of Grace by the Pillar in St Paul’s. In that post I explored in particular more about the devotion to Our Lady of Grace. That is a particular aspect of Our Lay which we will encounter at Ipswich and Cambridge on this Pilgrimage.
Situated as it was at the eastern end of the nave - the popular meeting place known as ‘Paul’s Walk’ - in the largest city in the realm - it was well placed to attract pilgrims and casual visitors. Certainly after the reformation ‘Paul’s Walk’ became a very popular place to meet and share news and do business, and there is reasonable evidence to suggest this was the case beforehand. Wikipedia has an account of its later usage at Paul's_walk. It seems to have been also a place for cut-purses to operate alongside beggars, and also where boys played football, with the occasional consequent damage to the stained glass. On occasion it was a place for heresy trials as well as public celebrations of treaties and agreements.This was, then, a place for all sorts and conditions.
As a place of public resort the space beside the shrine was also chosen for the public display of the body of King Henry VI in May1471 before his burial at Chertsey.
The Choir screen of St Paul’s by Wenceslas Hollar
The image of Our Lady of Grace was to the right just before the central tower.
Image:Wikimedia Commons
May Our Lady of Grace by the Pillar in St Paul’s intercede for us and our intentions
Jesu mercy, Mary pray
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