How Hallowed Trail works

Exploring the map

Head to Explore for a full-screen map of sites. Pan and zoom to load whatever area you're looking at — on first visit, we'll ask for location permission so the map can centre on you; say no and it'll just show a default UK view instead.

Tap Filters & list (top-right of the map) to open a panel with:

• A search box — matches site name, region, or address.
• Type filter — cathedral, church, chapel, graveyard, or cemetery.
• Region filter.
• A “Notable” toggle for hand-picked, especially interesting sites.
• The list of sites currently in view, tap any to see its full page.

On the map, circular markers are places of worship (churches, chapels, cathedrals); diamond markers are burial sites (graveyards, cemeteries). Bigger markers are “notable” sites.

A site's page

Tapping a site takes you to its page, where you can:

• Check in — marks the site as visited and awards points (more for cathedrals and notable sites). This is what feeds your level and badges.
• Save — adds it to your favourites for later.
• Trip— adds it to a trip itinerary you're planning (or start a new one on the spot).
• Add photo— upload your own photo of the site; it appears in that site's gallery for everyone to see and “heart”.

You'll also see address, denomination, opening hours, and a link to Wikipedia where we have that data (it's sourced from OpenStreetMap, so coverage varies site to site).

Points, levels, and badges

Checking in to a site awards points — more for cathedrals, and a bonus for “notable” sites. Getting a heart on a photo you've uploaded earns you a point too (self-likes don't count). Your total points determine your level, shown on your profile.

Badges unlock automatically across several tracks — visiting a number of sites overall, visiting particular site types (cathedrals, churches, graveyards...), visiting sites in a given region, visiting notable sites, reaching a points milestone, and getting likes on your photos. Check your profile to see which you've earned.

Curious how you stack up? The leaderboard ranks everyone by points.

Trips

Go to Trips to create an itinerary, then add sites to it from any site page. Reorder or remove sites from within the trip, and see them all plotted on one map — handy for planning a day visiting several churches/graveyards in an area.

Your profile

Your profile shows your level, badges, visited sites, favourites, and photos you've uploaded. You can set a custom display name (instead of your Google name showing on the leaderboard), and permanently delete your account and all its data at any time.

Signing in

Sign-in uses Google — there's no separate password to create. You only need to sign in to check in, save favourites, plan trips, or upload photos; browsing and searching the map works without an account.