**6. Conclusions**

In this article I have explored the ways in which rituals have been invented and adapted over time in the context of pilgrimage to different types of sacred sites. The two case studies reveal, not surprisingly, significant differences in ritual discourse and practice but also similarities that challenge conventional typologies. The comparison revealed two key themes—(a) the role of institutions and entrepreneurs in creating rituals and sacred places and (b) the relationship between people and the domesticated landscape.

Ritual studies has demonstrated the manifold ways in which particular ritual discourses and practices both shape and are shaped by wider social, political, and economic processes. The case studies show that the participants possess their own agency and power, which is expressed through the growth of consumerism and leisure, alternative forms of knowledge, the questioning of traditional expertise, and increased mobility (see Urry 1995, 2000; Pink 2016). Institutions such as the Roman Catholic Church have sought to respond to these general developments expressed in the decline across Western Europe of congregational worship by seeking to draw the millions visiting shrines across Europe into Church ritual. An alliance is sought between the territorial model of parish and diocese and the mobilities integral to pilgrimage (see Eade 2017). The BPT also seeks to draw on the territorial model of parish and diocese—in this case, the Church of England—but its ritual discourse and practices reflect even more the mobilities, flows, and mixture of elements characterising the wider changes taking place across Western Europe during the last fifty years.

**Funding:** This research received no external funding.

**Acknowledgments:** I am very grateful for the generous support provided by Martin Hoondert and for the suggestions from the reviewers.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The author declares no conflict of interest.
