Great Walsingham

Great Walsingham lies approximately one mile west of Little Walsingham. In typically 'do different' Norfolk fashion, it's actually smaller than Little Walsingham.
 

Great Walsingham Village Sign

Cottages at Great Walsingham

In 1658, in a field in the village, 40-50 urn burials were unearthed. This inspired Sir Thomas Browne of Norwich to write his Hydriotaphia or Urne-Burial. However, he mistakenly assumed they were Roman when they  were, in fact, Saxon.

The book was a meditation upon mortality and has produced a number of famous quotes including:
 

'Man is a noble animal, splendid in ashes, and pompous in the grave.'

'Generations pass while some trees stand, and old families last not three oaks.'

'To be nameless in worthy deeds exceeds an infamous history.'

'But to subsist in bones, and be but pyramidally extant, is a fallacy in duration.'

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