We invite you to make a pilgrimage with Bishop John Coleridge Patteson on a circular – ‘Patteson’s Way’. The eight mile pilgrimage visits the main sites associated with Bishop John Coleridge Patteson – Feniton, Alfington, Ottery St Mary and Patteson’s Cross in East Devon, and can be walked in a day or in four stages.
Patteson’s Way it’s an invitation to wander and wonder, as you journey with the story of one man’s life and legacy as your companion; experiencing the same sites and views that were the background to his life.
And as you walk, and reflect, on the ground Patteson trod, the hope of each of us who are pilgrims, is to deepen our own spirituality; allowing the divine influence behind both the story and countryside to impact on us.
The Melanesian Mission UK is an Anglican mission agency that provides support to the Anglican Church of Melanesia (ACoM), through Prayer, People and Giving.
http://www.mmuk.net/getinvolved/getinvolved-pilgrimage/
The Melanesian Mission UK 21 The Burlands, Feniton EX14 3UN
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Download the route booklet, or pick one up from the churches visited in Feniton, Alfington and Ottery St Mary.
Patteson’s Way was officially opened by the charity’s President The Most Reverend Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury on Saturday 18th September 2021 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Patteson’s martyrdom
http://www.mmuk.net/getinvolved/getinvolved-pilgrimage/
Walking Patteson's Way using Public Transport
What do the gentle streams and rolling hills Of Feniton have to do with disappearing islands in the south Pacific? Bishop John Patteson was born in Feniton and was martyred in Melanesia in 1871. His death led to a clamp down on the slave trade in British Pacific territories. The same waters that flow in our Devon rivers are the waters that are drowning low-lying islands in the Pacific. Melanesian Mission promotes connections between Anglican communities in the UK and Melanesia.
Think of your carbon footprint when you walk Patteson's Way. With each journey that you take with a car, one more grain of sand is washed from Solomon Islands. Share your car with a friend. Decide whether you can live car-free. Take a bus or train and walk or cycle the last mile.
There are no recognised cycle routes in this area. Pupils at Bishop Patteson's old school, The King’s School, Ottery St Mary have proposed The Otter Trail, a new shared use cycleway which would follow the old railway track starting at Feniton through to Ottery St Mary. This will eventually link up with a continuation through Tipton St John and onto Sidmouth. Sustrans are developing National Cycle Route 248 from Sidmouth to Honiton.
Feniton
The village comprises two related communities, the original village of Feniton, frequently known locally as ‘old’ Feniton, and the newer part of the village, centred around the railway station. The old part of Feniton contains the 13th-century Church of St Andrew, a hairdresser, a child-care practice and a number of thatched cottages. The Vine Water, a tributary of the River Otter, runs through ‘old’ Feniton, and is generally believed to have given the village its name.
The ‘new’ part of Feniton lies about 0.75 miles (1.21 km) west of the original village and is separated by open countryside. This area was formerly known as Sidmouth Junction and for many years consisted of just a few houses, a public house and a chapel, which were associated with the building and operation of the railway station of the same name. From the mid-1960s onwards, this area was transformed as a result of various medium-scale housing developments. These were accompanied by the building of Feniton Primary School, two village shops (one of which has since closed), and a playing field.
Feniton Railway Station is on the SWR Main Line between Exeter and London Waterloo. It was opened in 1860 one mile from the village of Feniton. There were only a few buildings around the station in the RAF aerial photographs of 1946. The station was closed in 6 March 1967 but reopened on 5 May 1971 as a result of local campaigning by the residents of the expanding village. South Western Railway operate at least a service every two hours between London Waterloo and Exeter St Davids. Due to the short platform at this station, passengers wishing to alight need to be in the front 3 coaches of the train as the platform can only take 3-car trains. I visited Feniton in the mid-1990's to meet the A30 protestors at Fairmile.
There are very few local bus services to Feniton.
Feniton Village Green (SE-bound) – bustimes.org
Feniton Village Green (NW-bound) – bustimes.org
Feniton to Alfington 1.5 miles (2.4 km)
The pilgrimage starts at St Andrew's Church, in 'old' Feniton. The route takes us through Fenny Bridge to Alfington.
St Andrew's church and lych gate,... © Ruth Sharville :: Geograph Britain and Ireland
Alfington
Alfington is a village in the parish of Ottery St Mary.
The Stagecoach 4 Exeter - Honiton and 4A Exeter - Axminster bus services stop at Alfington every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday. The 4 services also operates every 3 hours on Sunday.
Alfington Old Inn (N-bound) – bustimes.org from Exeter
Alfington Anthony Cottages (S-bound) – bustimes.org to Exeter
Alfington to Ottery St Mary 2.2 miles (3.5 km)
The pilgrimage continues from St James and St Anne Church, Alfington to Ottery St Mary via Otter Nurseries.
Ottery St Mary
Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about 10 miles (16 km) east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, Fairmile, Alfington, Tipton St John, Wiggaton, and (until 2017) West Hill, had a population of 7,692. The population of the urban area alone at the 2011 census was 4,898.
The town as it now stands, has several independent shops, mainly in Mill Street, Silver Street and Yonder Street. An area known as 'The Square', is the heart of Ottery St Mary. There are pubs, restaurants, and coffee and tea rooms. Ottery provides services, employment, and a wide range of shopping for local residents and visitors from nearby villages and towns.
The Stagecoach 4 Exeter - Honiton and 4A Exeter - Axminster bus services stop at Ottery St Mary every 30 minutes Monday to Saturday. The 4 services also operates every 3 hours on Sunday. The nearest bus stops to St Mary's Church is Paternoser Row
Ottery St Mary Patenoster Row (N-bound) – bustimes.org from Exeter
Ottery St Mary Paternoster Row (S-bound) – bustimes.org to Exeter
Ottery St Mary to Patteson's Cross 2.2 miles (3.5 km)
The pilgrimage continues from St Mary's Church through Talaford and Gosford to Patteson's Cross
Patteson's Cross to Feniton 1.9 miles (3 km)
The pilgrimage continues from Patteson's Cross through 'new' Feniton to Feniton Court. If you started your pilgrimage from Feniton Railway Station you can end your journey there.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=14/50.7671/-3.2803
Bishop John Coleridge Patteson
In 1855, John Coleridge Patteson answered Bishop Selwyn’s call for volunteers to go the South Pacific to preach the Gospel. He soon founded a school for the education of native Christian workers and, being adept at languages, he learned twenty-three of the languages spoken in the Polynesian and Melanesian Islands of the South Pacific.
Over the years the training college has moved from New Zealand out to the islands and is now known as Bishop Patteson Theological College, Kohimarama. Currently situated on Guadalcanal there are plans for a new site nearer Honiara.
After John Coleridge Patteson was consecrated Bishop of Melanesia in 1861, Edwin Nobbs and Fisher Young from Norfolk Island became the first Christian martyrs for Melanesia. They were killed at Graciosa Bay in 1864 after being attacked by islanders with poisoned arrows. The slave-trade was technically illegal in the South Pacific at that time, but the laws were only laxly enforced and in fact slave-raiding was a flourishing business. Patteson was actively engaged in the effort to stamp it out. However after slave-raiders had attacked the island of Nakapu, in the Santa Cruz group, Patteson and several companions visited the area in September 1871. They were assumed to be connected with the raiders and, after Patteson went ashore on his own to try and establish peace, his body was floated back to his ship with five hatchet wounds in the chest, one for each native who had been killed in the earlier raid. The death of Bishop Patteson caused an uproar back in England, and stimulated the British government to take firm measures to stamp out slavery and the slave trade in its Pacific territories. It was also the seed of a strong and vigorous Church in Melanesia today.
Soon after this tragic event the first Melanesian was ordained priest. His name was George Sarawia from Mota Island, New Hebrides (Vanuatu).
On the 150th anniversary of Bishop John Coleridge Patteson’s martyrdom, the charity has been asking what does Patteson mean to people today, both in Melanesia and in the UK.
http://www.mmuk.net/about/about-bjcp/
Climate Justice
Walande was an artificial island - a rock platform made from lumps of coral gathered from the reef over several hundred years. In 1966 it had 200 inhabitants and the houses were built flat on the rock surface. In 2002, when visited by BBC Blue Peter presenter, Simon Thomas, the houses were built on tall stilts and there were 1,200 inhabitants. In recent years climate change has caused the sea level to rise and turbulence has all but destroyed the island. In 2016 there were only 4 inhabitants. Dr Ivan Haigh, Associate Professor at the National Oceanography Centre, assesses the impacts of Climate Change.
MMUK, which is based in Devon, also works to highlight the effects of climate change in Melanesia, where some islands are already succumbing to rising sea levels. Mark Rylands said the Melanesia link was an opportunity for Christians in the UK to make a difference in the fight against climate change “We, in MMUK, do all we can to help the people of Melanesia with disaster relief funding, resourcing vital research and facing the impact of global warming. We are a family 10,000 miles apart – brothers and sisters in Christ supporting one another.”
http://www.mmuk.net/getinvolved/getinvolved-climatejustice/
Otter Trail
Pupils at The King’s School, Ottery St Mary have proposed a new shared use cycleway which follows the old railway track starting at Feniton through to Ottery St Mary. This will eventually link up with a continuation through Tipton St John and onto Sidmouth.
If there is enough local support now there is a better chance of this happening than ever before. Ottery St Mary have a good record of council, school and community cooperation in making things happen. This has been demonstrated by the successful completion of the Coleridge (Sustrans Connect 2) Bridge, which was recently highlighted as a nationwide example of community led development.
One Bus From Exeter
How far can you travel on One Bus From Exeter? In about an hour you can get to Honiton, Sidmouth, Exmouth, Dawlish, Teignmouth, Newton Abbot, Bovey Tracey, Moretenhampstead, Chagford, Okehampton, North Tawton, Chulmleigh, Witheridge, Tiverton, or Willand. You won't need to find a parking space - and you won't have to return to your car. You can walk along the East Devon Way, or the South West Coast Path, or the Exe Valley Way and return by another bus. Find the quiet places. Avoid the traffic congestion of last year. Step more lightly on the Earth.
Back in the early 2000s, I walked the Tarka Trail and the North Devon part of the South West Coast Path in sections. I would get a bus to a town or village on the Tarka Trail, walk 5 to 10 miles and then return on another bus. One Bus from Exeter is a return to that idea.
One Bus From Exeter was to going to start with step 4 out of national lockdown, however infection rates are still high. Use this site to plan your walks, look at the Covid19 data on the Devon Dashboard, listen to the science and exercise your personal responsibility.
