In my previous blog posts, I discussed the various pilgrimage sites I had visited during my trip to the north of England and Scotland over the summer. As well as the clear links to early Christianity and pilgrimage, themes addressed in the Nara to Norwich project, the sites also raised questions relating to ecology, conservation spaces, and pilgrimage sites.
The view from the top on Dun I on the island of Iona, Scotland. Photograph: Olivia Butler.
The more I travel the pilgrimage routes in our project, the more apparent it has become that the natural world and human interaction with it was inextricably linked to the location and use of these spaces. When walking the route between Norwich and Little Walsingham, we came across a host of conservation spaces along the length of the route, including Sweet Briar Marshes[1] and the Wensum Valley Conservation Area—a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) due to its rare chalk river habitat and rich wildlife.[2] In Japan, on my first visit to Hasedera, I was told by one of the team there that the mountains surrounding the temple were Ten’nenkinenbutsu (天然記念物),[3] designated natural monuments and spaces that are protected and conserved.
The Wensum Valley is a conservation area along the Walsingham Way – we came across this mill in North Elmham during our recent survey of the route. Photograph: John Falconer.
My own travels took me to Iona, an island where vehicles are closely restricted and largely prohibited to preserve the sacred nature of the site. This in turn has the added benefit of making the space a haven for seabirds such as corncrake and eagles,[4] managed by the National Trust of Scotland. While the same cannot quite be said for Lindisfarne (as demonstrated by the car park queues which spanned almost the entire length of the road that crossed the wash), Holy Island is a National Nature Reserve,[5] protected by Natural England, and a nationally important site for migratory birds as well as the Lindisfarne helleborine, which is only found there.
The view across to the 16th century Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island. Photograph: Olivia Butler.
So which came first, the conservation or the consecration? It is probably more helpful to instead conceive of this as a symbiotic relationship—if a site has naturally striking, rare or diverse features, it is more likely to be a site of reverence and considered sacred. This was particularly pronounced on the Ise Honkaido where we came across numerous Shinto shrines to rivers, trees and mountains on our route, including a famous cedar tree (Takai no Senbonsugi 高井の千本杉) designated as a natural monument which is said to have 16 trunks and be one of the oldest surviving of its type in Japan. This sacred designation can then lead to greater protection of the natural space, as seen at places like Iona. Once protected, these sites can then become a hotspot for conservation, biodiversity, and the natural world.
The famous cedar tree (Takai no Senbonsugi 高井の千本杉) along the Ise Honkaido, which also had an associated shrine. Photograph: Olivia Butler.
The relationship between pilgrimage and nature is clearly articulated in the sacred spaces along the Ise Honkaido in the form of Shinto shrines. It is also interesting to consider this in terms of the dialogue between ecology and sacred spaces themselves. At Ise Jingu, the ritual of Shikinen sengu (式年遷宮) means that the complex is rebuilt every 20 years using natural materials. [6] This ritual is also undertaken at Izumo Taisha (出雲大社) once every 60 years, but in contrast to full rebuilding, this ritual has a closer focus on repairing and replacing parts of the complex using traditional methods and materials (those who are interested can view our December Third Thursday Lecture which explores the theme of sustainability within this context).
A recent study has also shown how ‘eco-pilgrimages’ could be used as a strategy to improve the health of waterways, an issue which has been the topic of much news in recent years (see ITV’s report on the 60% increase in water incidents in the last year or Robert Macfarlane’s recent book Is A River Alive?).[7] Given that many sacred sites and sites of pilgrimage involve water in some way, such as holy wells or healing springs as explored in my earlier blog post, the study suggests that using pilgrimage could encourage greater stewardship and pro-environmental attitudes among participants. Norfolk was also part of the Green Pilgrimage Project until 2020, which aimed to use pilgrimage to ‘protect our natural and cultural heritage through investment, partnership working and policy prioritisation’.[8]
During our survey of the Ise Honkaido, we came across many rivers in the mountains – some of which had posters noting community clean ups of the waterways. Photograph: Olivia Butler.
While the relationship between pilgrimage and surrounding ecology can be a positive one, it is also important to consider how the increased human presence in these spaces can have adverse effects on the environment. Increased transport links and accessibility to travel for more of the world’s population has led to a significant increase in traffic to sites of pilgrimage. A study on the pilgrimage site of Tirumala-Tirupati in southern India explores how increasing numbers of visitors, as well as urban expansion due to infrastructure to support pilgrims and relocation of populations, has led to increased strain on the environment of this site through increased pollution, soil erosion, disruption of ecosystems, and strain on supplies such as water.[9] At Nun’s Cave which I visited over summer, it was clear that the footpaths pilgrims used to access the site were causing significant coastal erosion: many had almost completely collapsed. Given that this is a lesser-known site, it is clear that the ecological and environmental impact at more popular sites like the Camino de Santiago will be significant.
As I walked these routes, I reflected on the importance of protecting and conserving these spaces in the context of global warming, reduction of habitats, increasing pollution, and other pressing environmental concerns. These natural spaces also brought a much-needed break from my own cosmopolitan and busy life, which at times can feel detached from green spaces and the outside world (the benefits of which have been shown in numerous studies over recent years).[10] It is however interesting to consider how pilgrims of the past would have related to the ecological landscapes through which they passed, perhaps with differing values to people today who are acutely aware of issues surrounding sustainability, conservation and preservation of the natural world. Would pilgrims of the past have seen such a dichotomy between their lived world and the natural world around them, or was this likely more a present part of their day-to-day life? How would the landscapes they passed through have differed from what they saw around their homes or settlements?
As well as being a pilgrimage site, Nun’s Cave provided a diverse ecological setting with coastal habitats, grasslands, cliffs and some small forested areas.
As always with these posts, this is just a short introduction to some initial thoughts about this topic which will be explored further through our research. Landscapes and ecology have come to shape the ways and places of pilgrimage, but are also being shaped by them. For modern audiences, many pilgrimage routes now provide an opportunity to reconnect with and reflect on the natural spaces around us—whether that be in the context of spirituality, or for other physical, social and mental benefits. We very much encourage any readers who which to explore this with us to join us on our walk between Tuesday 09 – Friday 12 June (further information and registration available in this sign up form).
Olivia Butler, December 2025
[1] https://www.norfolkwildlifetrust.org.uk/SweetBriar
[2] https://www.visitnorfolk.co.uk/post/the-wensum-chalk-river#:~:text=Chalk%20streams%20in%20Norfolk%20include,County%20Council%20for%20special%20status.
[3] https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/tennen_kinenbutsu/
[4] https://www.isle-of-iona.net/things-to-do/wildlife-on-iona/#:~:text=The%20beautiful%20beaches%20also%20provide,small%20area%20of%20an%20island
[5] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/northumberlands-national-nature-reserves/northumberlands-national-nature-reserves#lindisfarne
[6] Aike Rots also explores developments within Shinto in the wake of new attitudes to environmentalism and conservation in the last decade in ‘Sacred Forests, Sacred Nation: The Shinto Environmentalist Paradigm and the Rediscovery of Chinju no Mori’, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 42/2: 205–233
[7] Shinde, Kira n. 2007. “Pilgrimage and the Environment: Challenges in a Pilgrimage Centre.” Current Issues in Tourism 10 (4): 343–65. doi:10.2167/cit259.0.
[8] https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/article/38785/Green-Pilgrimage-project and https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343738630_Green_Pilgrimage_Lessons_Learned_for_Sustainable_Economic_Growth
[9] https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.2167/cit259.0?needAccess=true
[10] The benefits of time in nature for wellbeing have been well-documented in studies e.g. White, M.P., Alcock, I., Grellier, J. et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Sci Rep 9, 7730 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-44097-3 and the use of Green Social Prescribing within NHS England. These themes have also been explored in relation to community archaeology projects in nature through the Sainsbury Institute’s Later Prehistoric Norfolk Project and Archaeology for Wellbeing.