Oliver Smith had long dreamed about completing the camino, the ancient pilgrims’ walk to Santiago de Compostela. The pandemic put the realization of that particular longing on hold. He started to think about focusing his interest in pilgrimage in a different way, reflecting instead on the pathways and destinations, ancient and modern, to be found closer to home, and planning an adventure across the sacred landscape of his native Britain. On This Holy Island is the result.

Some of the places that featured in his journey are familiar to almost every Briton. Stonehenge, Glastonbury, Avebury, Lindisfarne, and the White Horse at Uffington – these are places we learn about at school (even if we never get to visit them or understand their significance). But the history of pilgrimage in Britain encompasses a much broader topography, physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Smith writes with a self-deprecating charm and a light touch. This isn’t some dry, heavy thesis about the nature and meaning of pilgrimage. It’s a fact-filled, anecdote-filled travelogue, a book of encounters and conversations as much as wanderings and destinations.