Pilgrimage in London – The first of many celebrations for Sir Francis Bacon in 2026
A pilgrimage to places connected with Sir Francis Bacon – Viscount St Alban.
A 2026 Bacon400 Celebration led by Peter Dawkins and Jonathan Tod.
Please come and join us for this special pilgrimage celebrating Sir Francis Bacon, Viscount St Alban. 2026 is the Quatercentenary of the death and burial of Francis Bacon, and this pilgrimage is the inner or more private beginning of the public celebrations which will unfold over the course of the year.
This 2026 London pilgrimage will start at St Martin-in-the-Fields, where Francis Bacon was baptised on 25 January 1561, then proceed to the site of York House, Bacon’s London home when growing up and then later when he was Lord Keeper and Lord Chancellor. After this we will walk to the site of Essex House, where the Shakespeare Circle used to meet. Essex House (previously Leicester House) was built on the site of the Outer Temple of the Knights Templar.
We will then pilgrimage to the Middle Temple Inn of Court containing Middle Temple Hall where some Shakespeare plays were performed. After this we will progress to the Temple Bar Memorial, which marks the division between the Liberty of the City of London and the Liberty of Westminster.
Our final visit will be to the Inner Temple Inn of Court, where we will have a celebratory lunch in the Luncheon Room which has been reserved for our private use. After lunch we will visit Temple Church, the round church of the Knights Templar.
The Inner Temple Inn of Court twins Gray’s Inn of Court, where Francis Bacon had his chambers and was Treasurer. Twinship is the key to everything.
There is already a pilgrimage route which starts in London and ends at St Alban’s Cathedral, in which is the shrine of the Romano-British St Alban. We are working on a second pilgrimage route which will start in London (this pilgrimage marks the first steps on the route) and will end at St Michael’s Church, St Albans, where Francis Bacon’s body was buried in the chancel vault, with a sculpted memorial monument placed in the chancel above.
There will be a pre-pilgrimage talk on Zoom by Peter Dawkins at 5pm (GMT) on Sunday 18 January.
For further information and booking, please contact the Organiser (FBRT).
Priority will be given to FBRT Friends and FBS members if booked by 15 December 2025.