Description

“The Friars”, Aylesford Priory in Kent is one of the ancient houses of the Carmelite Order, and a major place of pilgrimage.

The Origins of Aylesford
Aylesford (which means a “crossing place for all peoples”) is a small village in the English county of Kent, where in 1242 a group of hermits from Mount Carmel were given land to establish a community by a crusader returning from the Holy Land.

Five years later Aylesford hosted a General Chapter (meeting) of Carmelites from across Europe. The hermits took decisions at that Chapter which led them to adopt the lifestyle of mendicant friars at the service of Church and Society. So fundamental was this decision to the future development of the Carmelite Order that Aylesford was henceforth revered as a spiritual epicentre, sometimes nicknamed “the second Carmel”. Several leading figures of the medieval Order were associated with the priory.

The priory passed from Carmelite ownership into private hands at the Reformation in 1538, becoming known as “The Friars”.

Aylesford was purchased back by the Carmelite Order in 1949 when, on 31 October (the vigil of All Saints), Mass was celebrated once again and, in the words of the first prior of the restored community, Fr. Malachy Lynch, life returned!