Walsingham
| Walsingham | |
| Norfolk | |
|---|---|
 Common Place, Little Walsingham | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TF934368 |
| Location: | 52°53’38"N, 0°52’26"E |
| Data | |
| Population: | 819 (2011) |
| Post town: | Walsingham |
| Postcode: | NR22 |
| Dialling code: | 01328 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | North Norfolk |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Broadland |
Walsingham is a parish in the north of Norfolk, consisting of two villages which have merged into one: Little Walsingham and its smaller neighbour, Great Walsingham. Within the parish also is a vanished mediaeval village, Egmere. It is within the county's North Greenhoe Hundred.
Little Walsingham is noted for its religious shrines in honour of Mary, mother of Jesus, arising from an early mediaeval legend and monastic foundation. The parish contains the ruins of two mediæval monastic houses. At the 2011 census the parish had a population of 819.
The villages are found 27 miles north-west of the county town, Norwich, and approximately 26 miles north-east of King's Lynn.
Walsingham is a historically significant Roman Catholic pilgrimage site, renowned for its devotion to 'Our Lady of Walsingham'. According to tradition, in 1061, the Anglo-Saxon noblewoman Lady Richeldis de Faverches experienced a vision in which the Virgin Mary commissioned her to build a replica of the Holy Family's house in Nazareth in commemoration of the Annunciation. The Holy House in Walsingham, first constructed in the 11th century, was panelled with wood and housed a wooden statue of the enthroned Virgin Mary holding the child Jesus on her lap. Among its relics was a phial reputed to contain the Virgin's milk. Walsingham became one of England's most prominent pilgrimage sites, thriving throughout the Middle Ages as a centre of Marian devotion until the English Reformation in 1538, when the shrine was dismantled. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, After centuries of decline, pilgrimage to Walsingham was revived, with the restoration of a Roman Catholic shrine and an Anglican shrine in the 20th century.
History
Walsingham is mentioned several times in the Domesday Book of 1086.[1] It is recorded as Walsingaham and 'another Walsingham'; alia Walsingaham: Martin interprets as the current villages of Great and Little Walsingham. One manor was held by Reginald fitzIvo, of 19, and 24 households, and valued at £6, and 100 shillings respectively;[2] Great Walsingham (Walsingaham magna) was held by Peter de Valognes, of 7 households and valued at 40s;[3] A Walsingham (Galsingaham) was recorded, listed as a berewick of the King’s manor of Fakenham, of 11 households,[4]
Priory
The Augustinian Priory of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was established in Walsingham around 1153, funded by Geoffrey de Faverches, son of Lady Richeldis, who had originally founded the Holy House shrine. The priory became a major centre of pilgrimage, growing in prominence throughout the mediæval period.
The Anglo-Saxon Chapel and the Holy House, originally founded during the reign of Edward the Confessor, was granted to the Augustinians Canons a century later and incorporated into the priory complex, further reinforcing Walsingham's status as a focal point of religious devotion, particularly in Marian pilgrimage.
Pilgrims from across the British Isles and continental Europe, including members of royalty, travelled to Walsingham. It remained one of the most significant pilgrimage sites until the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII in 1538, leading to the destruction of the priory. Today, the main pilgrimage route through Newmarket, Brandon, and Fakenham has been named the 'Palmers' Way', in reference to the pilgrims ('palmers') of old.
In 1537 while the last Prior, Richard Vowell, was paying obsequious respect to Thomas Cromwell, the Sub-Prior, Nicholas Mileham, was charged with conspiring to rebel against the suppression of the lesser monasteries, was convicted of high treason and was hanged outside the Priory walls. Eleven people in all, including two lay choristers who had been instrumental in organising the revolt were hanged, drawn, and quartered.
In July, Prior Vowell assented to the destruction of Walsingham Priory and assisted the king's commissioners in the removal of the figure of Mary and many of the gold and silver ornaments and the general spoliation of the shrine. The Prior received a pension of 100 pounds a year, a large sum in those days, while 15 of the canons received pensions varying from four to six pounds. Following the dismantling of the shrine and the destruction of the priory, the site was sold by order of Henry VIII to Thomas Sidney for 90 pounds. Over the late 17th and early 19th centuries, the Prior's lodging underwent successive expansions, eventually transforming into a private residence known as 'The Abbey'. The gold and silver from the shrine were transported to London, along with the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham, which was said to have been burned.
The fall of the monastery gave rise to an anonymous Elizabethan ballad, The Walsingham Lament.
20th century revival
In the 19th century, restrictions on Roman Catholic worship were lifted In 1897, Pope Leo XIII blessed a new statue for the restored ancient sanctuary of Our Lady of Walsingham, which was sent from Rome and placed in the Lady Chapel at the newly built Roman Catholic church in Walsingham. On the following day, the first post-Reformation pilgrimage took place to the Slipper Chapel at Walsingham, which was purchased by Charlotte Boyd(e) in 1895 and restored for Romanist devotion. This began an annual pilgrimage at Whitsun to commemorate this event.
In 1900, a caretaker was placed in the Priest's House at the Slipper Chapel (said to have been built in 1338); to facilitate its use by Roman Catholic pilgrims. Attempts to purchase the abbey site were unsuccessful (even though one of the Lee-Warners, who owned the estate, became a Roman Catholic in 1899); however, in 1961 the site of the original Holy House within the priory ruins was excavated by members of the Royal Archaeological Institute.[5]
As a result of the initiative of the Anglican vicar of Walsingham (from 1921), an Anglican Marian shrine has been established in Walsingham. First established in the parish church of St Mary and All Saints in 1922, the idol of Our Lady was translated to a purpose-built building in 1931 and pilgrimages are now held through the summer months. The Anglican National Pilgrimage takes place on the Late Spring Bank Holiday (the last Monday in May) and is regularly met by Protestant picket lines.
The Roman Catholic shrine continues to be based at the Slipper Chapel, near the hamlet of Houghton St Giles.
A small Orthodox chapel has been established in Walsingham and the Russian Orthodox have furthered their presence at the Church of the Holy Transfiguration, formerly the Methodist chapel at Great Walsingham, and also at the former Walsingham railway station which has been converted into the Church of St Seraphim.[6]
Little Sisters of Jesus has had a community of sisters in Little Walsingham since the late 1960s. There is currently also a community of Carmelites in the village.[7]
List of religious sites
Little Walsingham
Shrine
- Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham (Church of England)[8]
Churches
- St Mary and All Saints (Church of England parish church)[10]
- Church of the Annunciation (Roman Catholic parish church)[11]
- Walsingham Methodist Chapel
- Church of St Seraphim (Russian Orthodox church)[12]
Monastic ruins
- Walsingham Priory (St Mary's Priory, or ...Abbey) Augustinian (Canons Regular) - open to the public (fee)[13]
- St Mary's Friary (Franciscan; the 'Greyfriars')
Great Walsingham
Churches
- St Peter (Church of England parish church)[10]
- The Holy Transfiguration (Russian Orthodox parish church)[12]
- The Church of Our Lady of the Annunciation (Roman Catholic parish church)
Church ruin
- All Saints and St Mary (former parish church)
Houghton
Shrine
- Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham (the "Slipper Chapel") (Roman Catholic National Shrine)[14]
- Chapel of Reconciliation (Roman Catholic)
Church
- St Giles (Church of England parish church)[10]
Egmere
Church ruin
- St Edmund (former parish church)
About the village
The village is the result of a conjoining of two ancient settlements, Great Walsingham and Little Walsingham.
A 19th-century gazetteer describes Little Walsingham as a small town, known simply as Walsingham and which had also been known as New Walsingham,[15] and Great Walsingham as a smaller, separate village which had also been known as Old Walsingham.[16] A market once held on Tuesdays had already become defunct by 1845, whilst the Friday market was already "small" in 1845 and had ceased by 1883.[15]
The River Stiffkey flows through the parish, from south to north, passing to the east of the bulk of the village. The centre of Little Walsingham sits within the Stiffkey Valley, with the land rising to the east and west. National Cycle Route 1 passes through the village.
The former North Creake airfield lies within the parish, just north of Egmere, together with the area known as Bunker's Hill, which is a commercial/industrial area following the disuse as an airfield.
The Shirehall on Common Place served as a courtroom until 1974. In present times the building is open as a museum, and belongs to the Walsingham Estate.[13] The village has another museum building: the former House of Correction, or The Bridewell.[17]
Egmere and Quarles were merged into the civil parish of Great Walsingham in 1935, but Quarles then transferred to Holkham in 1947.[18]
Wells and Walsingham Light Railway
- Main article: Wells and Walsingham Light Railway
Walsingham used to be connected to the national railway network, being on the Wymondham to Wells Branch line, but this was closed during the Beeching Axe in stages from 1964 to 1969.
In 1979 work began on constructing a 10¼" gauge heritage railway on the old track bed to Wells. The line re-opened in 1982 and now operates with a fleet of steam and diesel scale locomotives.
A new station was constructed in Walsingham. The Walsingham railway station building (with the platform still intact and visible) is now Saint Seraphim's Orthodox church.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Walsingham) |
References
- ↑ HC Darby, GR Versey (1975) Domesday Gazeteer Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 0521 20666 9 p.270
- ↑ GH Martin, A Williams (1992, reprint 2003) Domesday Book: A Complete Translation Penguin ISBN 978 0141 43994 7 p.1148
- ↑ Martin, Williams p.1167
- ↑ Martin, Williams p.1055
- ↑ Green, Charles; Whittingham, A. B. (1968). "Excavations at Walsingham Priory, Norfolk, 1961". Archaeological Journal (London: Royal Archaeological Institute) 125 (1): 255–290. doi:10.1080/00665983.1968.11078341. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00665983.1968.11078341. Retrieved 2025-05-18.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Walsingham village website Churches & Chapels
- ↑ "The Community of Our Lady of Walsingham". https://walsinghamcommunity.org/.
- ↑ Anglican Shrine official website
- ↑ Guild of All Souls Chantry Chapel
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Walsingham Parishes (Church of England)
- ↑ "Catholic Parish of Walsingham". https://www.catholicparishofwalsingham.org/.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Church of the Holy Transfiguration, Gt Walsingham". https://holytransfigurationwalsingham.simdif.com/.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Walsingham Abbey – Walsingham Abbey Grounds, Shirehall Museum, mediæval Priory ruins and place of pilgrimage". 22 October 2025. https://www.walsinghamabbey.com/.
- ↑ "Catholic National Shrine & Basilica of Our Lady, Walsingham". https://www.walsingham.org.uk/.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Information on Walsingham from GENUKI
- ↑ Information on Walsingham from GENUKI
- ↑ "Shirehall Museum and Prison". https://www.walsinghamvillage.org/about/shirehall-museum-and-prison/.
- ↑ Vision of Britain