A Chronology of

Walsingham

Walsingham Ever Ancient 1061 – Ever New 2015

Since the time of its Foundation to the Present Day

A Chronology of Walsingham Page 2 October 2015 – Ver 1.1

1061 The Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham was established in 1061 after Richeldis de

Faverches prayed that she might undertake some special work in honour of Our Lady,

who instructed her to build a replica of the Holy House of Nazareth to serve as a

perpetual memorial of the Annunciation.

1066 The Norman Conquest of England.

1150 The Augustinian Canons built a Priory beside the Holy House.

Line Drawing of the Great Priory of Walsingham

Ground Plan of the Great Priory of Walsingham

The Foundation of the Shrine of the Holy House of Nazareth

Walsingham - England 1061 - 1538

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1226 Henry III was the first monarch to visit Walsingham. He came on many other occasions

and also financially supported the Shrine. Walsingham became a place of pilgrimage for

many other Kings and Queens. Edward I paid at least 12 visits, Edward II came in 1315,

Edward III came in 1361, King David of Scotland was given safe passage to visit in 1364,

Richard II came with his wife Anne in 1383, Henry IV's wife Queen Joan visited in

1427. In 1469, King Edward IV and his wife visited Walsingham, a visit mentioned in

the Paston Letters "and as for the King, as I understand, he departyt to Walsingham

upon Friday come seven-night, and the Queen also". In 1487 Henry VII during the

insurrection of the nobles in favour of Lambert Simnel "came to the place called

Walsingham where he prayed devoutly before the image of the Blessed Virgin Mary

that he might be preserved from the wiles of his enemies". Henry VII visited

Walsingham on other occasions and passed this devotion on to his son, Henry VIII

who came on Pilgrimage in 1511, when he walked barefoot to the Shrine and offered

Our Lady a necklace of great value.

1347 A Franciscan Friary was founded by Elizabeth de Burgh, Countess of Clare.

Remains of the Franciscan Friary, the largest remains of a medieval Franciscan Friary in England

1360 (Approx)

Slipper Chapel built. This is the last of the Pilgrim Chapels on way to Walsingham.

1465 A Ballad printed by Richard Pynson recounts in 21 verses an account of the miraculous

foundation at Walsingham.

"Of this chapell se here the fundacyon, Bylded the yere of Crystes incarnacyon,

A thousand complete syxty and one, The tyme of sent Edward kyng of this region..."

1479 William of Worcester records the earliest extant details and measurements of the

Shrine, the Priory Church and other buildings. "The length of the chapel of the blessed

Mary consists of 7 yards 30 inches, its width of 4 yards 10 inches. The length of the

whole church of Walsingham as far as the beginning of the chancel consists of 136

paces".

1485 The Red Mount Chapel, King's Lynn built, a chapel visited by Walsingham pilgrims

from the North and from the Continent

1513 Erasmus, the Renaissance scholar, visited Walsingham and wrote a detailed account of

his Pilgrimage. He described the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham as "a little image,

remarkable neither for size, material, or execution".

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The Prayer of Erasmus (which he used as he knelt before the Shrine and still used today) O, Alone of all women, Mother and Virgin, Mother most blessed, Virgin most pure, we salute you, we honour you as best we can with our humble offerings. May your Son grant us that imitating your most holy manners, we also, by the Grace of the Holy Ghost may deserve to conceive the Lord Jesus spiritually in our inmost soul, and once conceived, never to lose Him. Amen.

1534 On 18th September the Canons of Walsingham acknowledged the Royal Supremacy -

one of the first religious houses in England to submit.

1537 The sub-prior Nicholas Mileham and layman George Guisborough were executed in

Walsingham on 31st May. The "Walsingham Martyrs".

1538 The Statue of Our Lady of Walsingham handed over to the King Henry VIII's

Commissioners on 14th July. "In the moneth of July, the images of our Ladye of

Walsingham and Ipswich were brought up to London with all the jewelles that honge

about them ... and they were burnt at Chelsey by my Lord Privie Seal".

John Hussey wrote to Lord Lisle in 1538: "July 18th: This day our late Lady of

Walsingham was brought to Lambhithe (Lambeth) where was both my Lord

Chancellor and my Lord Privy Seal, with many virtuous prelates, but there was offered

neither oblation nor candle: what shall become of her is not determined."[7]

Two

chroniclers, Hall and Speed, suggest that the actual burning did not take place until

September.

1538 The Deed of Surrender of the Priory to the King's Commissioners was signed on 4th

August.

The Deed of Surrender where by the Great Priory of Walsingham was dissolved

in 1538 was discovered in Cambridge, and the wax image of the Great Seal of

The Priory of Walsingham was attached to the bottom showing the image of

Our Lady of Walsingham. This was the first image seen since the statue was

desecrated in 1538.

The Dissolution of the Monasteries and the Destruction of the Shrine

1534 - 1538

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Wax Seal of the Great Priory of Walsingham

1564 The buildings were looted and largely destroyed, but the memory of it was less easy to

eradicate. Sir Roger Townsend a local landowner responsible for the suppression,

wrote to Thomas Cromwell in 1564 that a woman of nearby Wells (now called Wells-

Next-The-Sea), had declared that a miracle had been done by the statue after it had

been carried away to London. He had the woman put in the stocks on market day to

be abused by the village folk but concluded "I cannot perceyve but the seyd image is not yett out of the sum of ther heddes."

[1]

1578 Queen Elizabeth I visited Walsingham, accompanied by Philip Howard, Earl of

Arundel. Later Philip Howard returned to the Catholic Faith, as a result of which he was

sentenced to death. The poem "The Wracks of Walsingham" has been attributed to

him.

In the wracks of Walsingham Whom should I choose

But the Queen of Walsingham

to be my guide and muse.

Then, thou Prince of Walsingham, Grant me to frame

Bitter plaints to rue thy wrong, Bitter woe for thy name.

Bitter was it so to see

The seely sheep Murdered by the ravenous wolves

While the shepherds did sleep.

Bitter was it, O to view The sacred vine,

Whilst the gardeners played all close, Rooted up by the swine.

Walsingham Slept 1538 - 1896

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The “Lonely Arch” The East End of the Church.

All that remains of the Great Priory of the Walsingham

Bitter, bitter, O to behold The grass to grow

Where the walls of Walsingham So stately did show.

Such were the worth of Walsingham

While she did stand, Such are the wracks as now do show

Of that Holy Land.

Level, level, with the ground The towers do lie,

Which, with their golden glittering tops, Pierced once to the sky.

Where were gates are no gates now,

The ways unknown Where the press of peers did pass

While her fame was blown.

Owls do scrike where the sweetest hymns Lately were sung,

Toads and serpents hold their dens Where the palmers did throng.

Weep, weep, O Walsingham,

Whose days are nights, Blessings turned to blasphemies,

Holy deeds to despites.

Sin is where Our Lady sat,

Heaven is turned to hell, Satan sits where Our Lord did sway --

Walsingham, O farewell!

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1778 The Catholic Relief Act repealed some of the restrictions on Roman Catholics. A

Roman Catholic Mission was established in King's Lynn.

1781 John Wesley preached in Walsingham on 30th October. In his Journal he wrote "had

there been a grain of virtue or public spirit in Henry the Eighth, these noble buildings

need not have run to ruin".

1829 The Catholic Emancipation Act removed most of the legal disabilities on Roman

Catholics.

1833

The Oxford Movement began in the Church of England

1850 The restoration of the Catholic Hierarchy.

1887 The formation of the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom.

1894 Legal negotiations started on 5th January between Henry Lee Warner of Walsingham

Abbey and Miss Charlotte Boyd to purchase the Slipper Chapel.

1894 Charlotte Boyd was received into the Roman Catholic Church on 22nd September.

1896 Charlotte Boyd legally acquired the Slipper Chapel on 26th June.

Chapel at Houghton Le Dale, Norfolk, 1809

1896 Charlotte Boyd conveyed the Slipper Chapel to Rev. Henry Worth of Downside Abbey

on 25th July.

1897 By Rescript, dated 6th February, of Pope Leo XIII, the ancient sanctuary of Our Lady of

Walsingham was restored at King's Lynn. (Walsingham was part of the King’s Lynn

parish at this date)

The Restoration 1896 - 2015

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Translation of rescript of Pope Leo XIII

“We beg to remind His Eminence, the Cardinal Vicar, of the blessing by His Holiness on the 6th, of the accompanying statue, chosen by Your Eminence for the reconstitution of the ancient shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, King's Lynn, Norfolk, in the Diocese of Northampton, England, which was earnestly and humbly asked of Your Eminence by the Right Reverend Father Philip Fletcher of the diocese of Southwark, and Master of the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom for the conversion of England, and Father George Wrigglesworth, Parish Priest of Our Lady's, King's Lynn, Norfolk, diocese of Northampton.”

At an audience with His Holiness, the 6th Feb: 1897, Our Most Holy Lord Leo P.P.XIII,

granting this petition, was graciously pleased to approve and commend as praiseworthy

the selected statue of the Mother of God, for the purpose stated.

1897 The Statue of Our Lady presented by Pope Leo XIII arrived at King's Lynn on 19th

August and was enshrined in the Holy House of the Pontifical Shrine of Our Lady.

1897 The Guild of Our Lady of Ransom, under Father Philip Fletcher, brought the first public

pilgrimage since the Reformation to Walsingham on 20th August.

Poster inviting for the first public pilgrimage to Walsingham since the Reformation

1906 Charlotte Boyd died on 3rd April.

1921 Rev. Alfred Hope Patten appointed Anglican Vicar of Walsingham.

1922 A statue of Our Lady of Walsingham was enshrined in St. Mary's Anglican Church,

Walsingham on 6th July.

1923 The first organised Anglican Pilgrimage to Walsingham.

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1930 Downside Abbey conveyed the Slipper Chapel to Diocese of Northampton on 11th

December. (Walsingham was in the Northampton Diocese at this time)

1931 The Anglican Shrine of Our Lady transferred to the new Shrine Church on 15th

October.

1934 15th August new Pulpit at Westminster Cathedral used for the first time. Cardinal

Bourne said There were three events, which the pulpit commemorated: his own thirty

years as ruler of the See of Westminster; his fifty years as a priest; and — a third event

which he considered was of the most lasting importance — the restoration of the

pilgrimage in honour of Our Blessed Lady of Walsingham. On the following Sunday

they would go in solemn pilgrimage from all parts of the country to the spot at

Walsingham where the shrine stood before its desecration close upon four hundred

years ago.

1934 The first Mass since the Reformation celebrated in the Slipper Chapel on 15th August.

Four days later on 19th August Cardinal Bourne and Bishop Lawrence Youens led the

Bishops of England and Wales and 10,000 pilgrims on Pilgrimage to the Slipper Chapel.

From this time, the Slipper Chapel was known as the National Shrine of Our Lady.

1934–

1954

The Tristram Statue carved by Professor Tristram of Cambridge University from the

Great Seal of the Priory of Walsingham was placed in the Slipper Chapel until 1954.

The Tristram Statue

1935 Father Bruno Scott-James was appointed as the first resident priest custodian to the

Slipper Chapel.

1936 At Easter a new canopy and pedestal in the Slipper Chapel. On 25th March first

overnight Pilgrimage came from Roehampton.

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1937 The Capuchin Friars established a community in Walsingham.

1938 Catholic Pilgrim Bureau was founded by the Bishop of Northampton. The Anglican

Shrine Church was extended.

1938 Between 1st - 3rd July a Pilgrimage of 10,000 Catholic Youth led by Cardinal Hinsley

commemorated the 400th Anniversary of the destruction of the Shrine.

Youth pilgrimage, 1938

1938 The Slipper Chapel and the Holy Ghost Chapel were consecrated by Bishop Youens

on 8th September.

1939 Outside altar erected in the Slipper Chapel meadow.

1941 In St Bede’s Catholic Church, Williamsburg, Virginia the American National Shrine of

Our Lady of Walsingham was blessed.

1945 The American Forces stationed in East Anglia organised the first Mass in the Priory

ruins since the Reformation on 17th May.

1946 The Union of Catholic Mothers organised their first National Pilgrimage and the first

Benediction in the Priory ruins.

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1947 Statue presented by British Forces to Pope Pius XII.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for England

1948 First Student Cross pilgrimage to Walsingham came at Easter.

Student Cross pilgrimage near Slipper Chapel

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1948 The Cross Carrying Pilgrimage for Peace, Penance and Prayer set out on 2nd July and

carried 14 Crosses to Walsingham from all parts of the country. They were dedicated as

The Way of the Cross on 16th July. England and Wales consecrated to the Immaculate

Heart of Mary by Cardinal Griffin.

The Cross Carrying Pilgrimage, High Street, Walsingham

1948 The Statue of Our of Boulogne arrives as part of the Pilgrimage for Peace.

The Statue of Our of Boulogne

1950 Temporary Church of the Annunciation opened in Walsingham on 2nd July.

1952 Monsignor O'Connor brought a trans-atlantic pilgrimage from Washington D.C. on

12th August.

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1953 The East Window, "the Assumption window" was placed in the Slipper Chapel. Along

the base of the window is the text of the definition of the Dogma of the Assumption

"Declaramus et definimus divinitus revelatum dogma esse immaculatum Deiparam

semper Virginem Mariam fuisse corpore et anima ad caelestem gloriam assumptam"

(We declare and define to be as divinely revealed dogma that the Immaculate ever

virgin Mother of God was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

The Assumption window

1954 Before a crowd estimated at 20,000 the Papal Delegate, Archbishop O'Hara crowned

the new statue of Our Lady of Walsingham on 15th August.

Archbishop O’Hara crowns the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham on the Feast of the Assumption

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Faithful gathered on the old Priory grounds to witness the coronation

1957 On 17th August a carving of the Trinity was placed in an original niche over the West

Door of the Slipper Chapel.

1958 The tester in the Slipper Chapel was completed on 31st May. Two statues of Our

Lady and the Angel Gabriel were on the 12th August placed in niches outside the

Slipper Chapel and blessed by Bishop Parker on 17th August.

1961 To commemorate the Ninth Centenary of the Founding of the Shrine a group of

archaeologists conducted a dig in the Priory Grounds and confirmed the site of the

Holy House.

1961 The Anglican Parish Church of St. Mary's seriously damaged by fire on 14th July.

1968 The Marist Fathers became responsible for the Shrine from 1st February.

1970 Facilities and a repository built at the Shrine.

1972 First SVP Pilgrimage for the Sick took place.

1973 New outdoor sanctuary with a polished Aberdeen Granite Altar given by the Union

of Catholic Mothers was consecrated on 3rd July.

1976 The Diocese of East Anglia was established, Bishop Alan Clark, Auxiliary Bishop of

Northampton appointed Bishop of East Anglia.

1980 On 26th May the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie visited the Slipper

Chapel and prayed for Unity. Two weeks previously Cardinal Hume had visited the

Anglican Shrine and said the same prayers for Unity.

Sept

1980

Building of Chapel of Reconciliation began to replace open-air altar.

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1981 The Chapel of Reconciliation blessed by Cardinal Hume on 6th September.

Easter

1982

The 15th Station (The Resurrection) was carried by the Bletchley youth walkers.

1982 The Chapel of Reconciliation consecrated on 22nd May by Bishop Alan Clark of

East Anglia.

1982 Pope John Paul II visited Britain; the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham was received

by him and venerated during the Mass at Wembley on 29th May. He said:

"The faithful for centuries have made pilgrimage to her shrine at Walsingham. Today Walsingham comes to Wembley, and the statue of Our Lady of Walsingham, present here, lifts our minds to meditate on our Mother. It is

Mary who will teach us how to be silent, how to listen to the voice of God in

the midst of a busy and noisy world. It is Mary who will help us to find time for prayer ... we need to live as she did, in the presence of God, raising our minds and hearts to Him in our daily activities and worries".

Pope John Paul II celebrating the Holy Mass at Wembley Stadium and Our Lady of Walsingham statue

1984 As part of the Golden Jubilee Celebrations, the icon of “The Mother of God of

Walsingham” was commissioned. It was painted by Archimandrite David, of the

Russian Orthodox community of St. Seraphim, Walsingham. It was processed to the

Shrine on 8th July to be dedicated and enthroned.

Marian

Year

1987/88

The statue and the interior carvings of the Chapel were restored by Siegfried Pietsch.

The rebuilding of the area adjacent to the Slipper Chapel was completed during the

1988 Marian Year, integrating the shops, offices and rest room facilities.

1987 Archbishop Barbiarito, Apostolic Pro-Nuncio visited Walsingham on 28th June.

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1989 The National Pilgrimage relaunched as “The Dowry of Mary Pilgrimage.” Mosaic of

Pentecost by Anna Wyner placed in the Holy Ghost Chapel.

1995 The Union of Catholic Mothers celebrated their 50th Pilgrimage on 5th July.

1996 The Anglican Bishop of Norwich, Rev. Peter Nott prayed at the Slipper Chapel on his

Pilgrimage to mark 900 years of the Diocese of Norwich.

1997 To commemorate the twin 1400th Anniversary of the arrival of St. Augustine in

Canterbury and the death of St. Columba on Iona pilgrims travelled from Rome. Some

on their way to Iona prayed at the Slipper Chapel on 29th May.

Aug

1997

The Shrine begins the celebrations of the Centenary of the Restoration of Pilgrimage on

consecutive days in King’s Lynn and Walsingham. West window donated by the Guild

of Ransom installed in Slipper Chapel.

1998 Golden Jubilee of Student Cross every leg carried the “Celebration Cross” which was

later installed in the Shrine grounds.

2000 The Shrine celebrated the great Jubilee of the Incarnation.

2001 24th September Feast of Our Lady of Walsingham celebrated for the first time.

2005 Demolition starts on the temporary Church of the Annunciation in Walsingham

(temporary since 1950).

2007 New Church of the Annunciation in Walsingham consecrated.

2009 Relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux visit the Shrine.

The Holy Mass and Relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux

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Relics of St Thérèse of Lisieux outside the Slipper Chapel

2011 On 15th January Pope Benedict XVI established the Personal Ordinariate of Our

Lady of Walsingham for groups of former Anglicans.

2011 Richeldis 950 celebrations began. On 25th March new windows in Chapel of

Reconciliation were blessed by Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury.

2011 Mass celebrated by Cardinal Vincent Nichols at Westminster Cathedral in celebration

of the 950th

anniversary of the foundation of the Shrine.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Our Lady of Walsingham statue

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2011 27th – 30th September European Marian Network linking 20 Marian shrines met in

Walsingham.

European Marian Network gathering

2012 On 1st January the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter under the

patronage of Our Lady of Walsingham covering the United States and Canada was

established.

2014 The Shrine Director Fr. Alan Williams SM. is appointed Bishop of Brentwood.

2015 Mgr. John Armitage, Brentwood Diocese becomes Rector of the Shrine on 18th

February.

On the 27th

December Pope Francis granted the Catholic National Shrine of Our Lady

at Walsingham a Minor Basilica status.

2016