Student Cross is the annual, Ecumenical, cross-carrying, walking pilgrimage to Walsingham

Walsingham

Walsingham is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village is famed for its religious shrines in honour of the Virgin Mary and as a major pilgrimage centre...

 that takes place at Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

. The pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

 was founded in 1948 by a University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

 student, Wilfred Mauncote-Carter, who led a group of students including many ex-servicemen, on a walk from London to Walsingham

Walsingham

Walsingham is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village is famed for its religious shrines in honour of the Virgin Mary and as a major pilgrimage centre...

, taking it in turns to carry the Cross. The pilgrimage

Pilgrimage

A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...

 has grown over the years and currently consists of ten different 'legs' that start from different areas of the country and at different stages of the week leading up to the celebration of the Easter Triduum

Easter Triduum

Easter Triduum, Holy Triduum, or Paschal Triduum is the period of three days that begins with the Mass of the Lord's Supper on the evening of Maundy Thursday and ends with evening prayer on Easter Sunday...

. The Pilgirmage has been officially Ecumenical since 1972 although it still retains a Catholic flavour.

Six of the legs walk for seven days over a distance of approximately 120 miles. One leg walks for three days over a distance of around sixty miles. Two are for families and are based in Hunstanton

Hunstanton

Hunstanton, often pronounced by locals as and known colloquially as 'Sunny Hunny', is a seaside town in Norfolk, England, facing The Wash....

 and Wells-next-the-Sea

Wells-next-the-Sea

Wells-next-the-Sea, known locally simply as Wells, is a town, civil parish and seaport situated on the North Norfolk coast in England.The civil parish has an area of and in the 2001 census had a population of 2,451 in 1,205 households...

. Easter Cross walks for Good Friday

Good Friday

Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...

 only and is generally for older student-crossers who have previously walked full legs. All of the legs meet on the afternoon of Good Friday

Good Friday

Good Friday , is a religious holiday observed primarily by Christians commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. The holiday is observed during Holy Week as part of the Paschal Triduum on the Friday preceding Easter Sunday, and may coincide with the Jewish observance of...

 and celebrate the Easter liturgy together in Walsingham

Walsingham

Walsingham is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village is famed for its religious shrines in honour of the Virgin Mary and as a major pilgrimage centre...

 over the Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

weekend.

Current Student Cross Legs

• London (starts walking from Epping Forest)
• Northern (starts walking from the village of Keyworth near Nottingham)
• Midland (starts walking from the village of Keyham near Leicester)
• Essex (starts walking from Colchester)
• Oxford (starts walking from Oxford)
• Kettering (starts walking from near the town of Desborough)
• Ely (starts walking from Ely)
• Peg (based at Hunstanton Youth Hostel)
• Wells (based at Wells-next-the-Sea Youth Hostel)
• Easter Cross (starts walking from North Elmham on Good Friday)

External links

• Student Cross
• Northern Cross (a similar Easter pilgrimage, which walks to Holy Island (Lindisfarne) off the coast of Northumberland; this was set up by veteran Student Cross walkers in 1976, who were seeking a different destination.)
• Scottish Cross (Another natural development from Student and Northern Cross with cross carrying pilgrims walking to Iona on two routes - Fort William and Loch Lomond Legs - during Holy Week.)