River Dart Way

River Dart Way (RDW) is the new name for our signature sacred waters way – a ‘sea to source’ pilgrimage along the River Dart with which we first began as a wild church almost a decade ago. Creatures of all kinds (including human ones) have been travelling along the Dart for millennia and yet as a particular pilgrimage, this is an original route created and curated by RDWC founder, Rev Sam Wernham. Sam has been walking the Dart and its tributaries for over 35 years and often in the good companion of our wild church collaborators, guides and pilgrims. In addition to our regular guided walks, we are now developing a self guided route, which offers you the chance to make your own pilgrimage, drawing on our experience.

In the months and years to come, details of this self guided River Dart Way will be released in stages and offered on a donation basis. Each stage will include maps, waypoints with interesting info (including our eco activist emphasis) and photos, and suggestions for sacred practices that can help deepen your pilgrimage experience. Resources will be available in different forms, including downloadable interactive pdf’s on this page, mapping through the British Pilgrimage Trust and audio resources, including podcasts, thanks to the expertise of Tyler Freeman Smith.

This is the beginning of a big project that will gradually be built up in layers… a kind of ‘pilgrimage’ to create a pilgrimage! We hope you will journey with us and contribute your own experiences and wisdom along the Way. The pilgrimage is in four parts, each made up of a series of stages as follows:

Part One – ‘Salmon and Saltmarsh’ – journeying along the River Dart Estuary from the sea at Dartmouth to fresh water at Dartington

The first stage of this, a pilgrimage from Dartmouth to Dittisham, is now available through our new River Dart Way page with the British Pilgrimage Trust.

We take our inspiration from the salmon who start, return to spawn and often end their lives on a sea to source journey along the Dart. As walk along the tidal reach, we focus especially on what dwells at the margins, of both the river and the heart.

Part Two – ‘Ancient Yews and Abbeys’ – approaching Dartmoor through the ancient sites near the Dart between Dartington and Holne

We are offering guided walks for this part in 2024. See our pilgrimages page for details.

Part Three – ‘Tors and Trees’ – moving deeper into ‘Dartmoor Forest’ along the river between Holne and Dartmeet

Part Four – ‘Seeking the Source’ – exploring the High Moors and moving towards a source of the River Dart beyond Postbridge

Please re-visit this page to see this self guided pilgrimage unfolding. For stories and images along the Way, please see our journal here. And for guided RDWC pilgrimages, please see our pilgrimage page here