The Pilgrimage now goes to Worcester Cathedral which had a famous statue of Our Lady.
My post about it from last year has links to previous ones, and I especially urge readers to work through them to my original 2020 post which reveals contemporary material from 1538 about the nature of popular devotion and the hostility of the new Henrician establishment. This can be accessed from Marian Pilgrimage - Our Lady of Worcester
Medieval pilgrims would probably have approached the cathedral from the north, as do visitors today. Unlike the modern visitor the medieval pilgrim would have seen a number of features which have, regrettably been lost, including the gateways on this side of the Close.
Some of the disastrous city planning from the late eighteenth century onwards, and infamously in the 1960s, at this crucial point is set out in an article from Worcester News here
Worcester Cathedral before the nineteenth century restoration with a large late medieval window in the east wall rather than the reconstructed lancets that are there today and massive flying buttresses.
To the right is the medieval parish church of St Michael
Bedwardine which served the Close, but was demolished in 1843
Image: findagrave.com
Further along was the detached bell tower or Clochium which stood about 210 feet high. It was built about 1220, but stripped of its lead roof in 1647 and subsequently demolished.
Image: Dean and Chapter of Worcester
May Our Lady of Worcester intercede for us and our intentions
Jesu mercy, Mary pray
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