Walsingham, Norfolk, England · 1061
Almost a thousand years ago, in a quiet corner of medieval England, a noblewoman named Richeldis de Faverches saw a vision of the Virgin Mary. The Lady showed her, in spirit, the little house in Nazareth where the angel Gabriel had announced the Incarnation — and asked her to build a copy of it in this English meadow. From that day, Walsingham became “England’s Nazareth,” and one of the great pilgrimage destinations of medieval Christendom — a place where heaven and the English countryside meet.
England’s Nazareth
In the year 1061, Richeldis de Faverches, the lady of the manor at Walsingham, was three times shown by Our Lady the dimensions of the Holy House of the Annunciation in Nazareth, and asked to build its likeness in Norfolk, that the English faithful might have a place of pilgrimage in their own land. She did so. By the twelfth century, Walsingham was already known across Europe.
For nearly five hundred years, Walsingham drew kings on pilgrimage — Henry III, Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Henry IV, Henry V, Henry VI, Edward IV, Henry VII, and Henry VIII himself before the break with Rome. The faithful walked the last mile to the shrine barefoot, leaving their shoes at the “Slipper Chapel” — the chapel that still stands today.
In 1538, the shrine was destroyed by order of Henry VIII. The image of Our Lady was burnt at Chelsea. For three centuries, the shrine lay in ruins. But the prayer continued in the hearts of the English faithful, and in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries the shrine was restored — first the Catholic shrine at the Slipper Chapel, then the Anglican Holy House — and pilgrims have returned ever since to England’s Nazareth.
The Sanctuary Today
The Catholic National Shrine, centered at the Slipper Chapel just outside Walsingham, is the principal Marian shrine of Catholic England. The Anglican Shrine in the village contains a Holy House built to the original medieval dimensions, with a deeply loved image of Our Lady of Walsingham seated and crowned, the Christ Child raising his hand in blessing on her knee. The two shrines stand within a mile of each other, and pilgrims of many traditions walk between them.
The Holy Mile from Walsingham village to the Slipper Chapel is walked still in every season. The Mass is celebrated daily; the Rosary is prayed before the image; in the small enclosed gardens, candles burn for the intentions of those who could not come.
A Prayer at Walsingham
Our Lady of Walsingham,
you who showed an English woman the Holy House of Nazareth
and asked it built in her own meadow —
build a holy house in our own hearts.
Let the angel’s greeting find a quiet place there.
Let the “Yes” of Nazareth be born again in us.
Mother of England, Mother of every country,
pray for us. Amen.
Live from Walsingham
The Catholic National Shrine at the Slipper Chapel and the Anglican Shrine in the village both broadcast live Masses and prayers from England’s Nazareth — a thousand years of pilgrimage carried into the digital age.
Visit & Learn More
- Catholic National Shrine of Walsingham: www.walsingham.org.uk
- Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Walsingham
Journey with Mary: A Path to Jesus 