Date/Time
Date(s) - 5th September, 2026
10:30 - 16:00
Location
Tate Britain
Categories
Discover Blake’s Jerusalem in the sacred heart of London, with Mark Vernon, BBC Broadcaster and author of many works including Awake! William Blake and the Power of the Imagination
William Blake placed in our hands the end of a golden string. Wind it into a ball, he promised, and it will lead you to heaven’s gate, built in Jerusalem’s wall. For Blake, that Jerusalem was London itself. This day pilgrimage will lead to one place he certainly knew the portal to eternity, in Westminster Abbey.
William Blake is much loved and often not well understood. Place was immensely significant to Blake because it is in particular locations that we encounter the genii loci that can participate in the divine vision and so communicate that spirit to us. Like us, Blake lived in a tumultuous era of warfare, discontent, rapid technological change, and a deepening estrangement of humanity from nature. He exposed the dark sides of political fervour and social moralising, while unashamedly celebrating love and liberty. But he also conversed with prophets and angels, and was powerfully, if unconventionally, religious. If we take this seriously—not easy, in secular times—then Blake can help us to unlock the transformative power of imagination, key to his importance in today’s world.
Next year, 2027, is the bicentenary of Blake’s death. This pilgrimage will follow paths William and Catherine Blake trod, visiting places that they lived, and enjoying readings from Blake’s work along the way. The day is a perfect chance to step into the anniversary year and learn from, as well as learn about, one of the great prophets and mystics of the modern age.
This day pilgrimage traces the streets William and Catherine Blake walked, loved and transfigured through visionary sight. Beginning at Tate Britain, we cross Vauxhall Bridge, pass through the Pleasure Gardens Blake satirised, and rest beside the Lambeth lanes where his great prophetic works were written. We pause at Hercules Road, where the Blakes made their home, before crossing Waterloo Bridge to the site where Blake breathed his last, singing hymns, on 11 August 1827. With readings from Blake’s poetry along the way, we arrive finally at Westminster Abbey — a place Blake knew intimately — for choral evensong.
A perfect step into his bicentenary year. Come ready to be changed.