Little WalsinghamLittle Walsingham lies
approximately 5 miles south of
Wells-Next-The-Sea.In about 1061, the Holy Virgin
appeared to Lady Richeldis de Faverches in Walsingham.
Mary instructed the widow to build a house modelled on
the Holy House in Nazareth. This she subsequently did
and some time later an Augustinian abbey was built on
the banks of the River Stiffkey nearby. (The location of
the original house has been identified by
archaeologists.) Little Walsingham became one of the
most sacred sites in England and was visited by every
English king. Even Henry VIII made the pilgrimage -
walking the last mile barefoot. However, the Reformation
was soon to destroy the abbey. Today, all that remains
of it is the east wall with its high Gothic window,
parts of the refectory and a picturesque packhorse
bridge across the River Siffkey. Little Walsingham has
inspired many literary references. One of the earliest
is in Piers Plowman by William Langland (c.1330 -
c.1386):
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Heremytes on an heep with hoked staves
Wenten to Walsyngham, and their wenches after,
Grete lobies and longe that lothe were to swynke;
Clothed hem in copes, to be knowen from othere;
And shopen hem heremytes, their ese to have.
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The ruins of Walsingham Abbey. Top left: the East
Window; Top right: the packhorse bridge; Bottom left:
the refectory; Bottom right: the refectory window |
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The following poem is attributed to Saint Philip Howard, Earl of
Arundel (1557-1595) and laments the
destruction of the abbey.
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On Walsingham
In the
wrackes of Walsingham
Whom should I chuse
But the Queen of Walsingham
To be guide to my muse?
Then thou Prince of
Walsingham
Grant me to frame
Bitter plaintes to rewe they wrong
Bitter wo for my name.
Bitter was it oh to see
The seely sheepe
Murdered by the raveninge wolves
While the sheephards did sleep.
Read complete poem
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There is also another poem with a Walsingham connection
which was written by Sir Walter Ralegh - although some
scholars now cast doubt on this attribution. Its title
is Walsingham and it is essentially a love poem.
Here are the first verses:
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'As you came from the holy land
Of Walsingham,
Met you not with my true love
By the way as you came?''How shall I know your true love,
That have met many one
As I went to the holy land,
That have come, that have gone?'
Read complete poem |
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The Anglican Shrine in Little Walsingham
was built in 1931 and is one of the most famous places
for Christian pilgrimage in the world.
Anglican Shrine at
Walsingham
England's Nazareth
The American poet Robert Lowell
(1917-1977) wrote the following moving poem entitled
Our Lady of Walsingham
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There once the
penitents took off their shoes
And then walked barefoot the remaining mile;
And the small trees, a stream and hedgerows file
Slowly along the munching English lane,
Like cows to the old shrine, until you lose
Track of your dragging pain.
The stream flows down under the druid tree,
Shiloah’s whirlpools gurgle and make glad
The castle of God. Sailor, you were glad
And whistled Sion by that stream. But see: Our Lady,
too small for her canopy,
Sits near the altar. There’s no comeliness
At all or charm in that expressionless
Face with its heavy eyelids. As before,
This face, for centuries a memory,
Non est species, neque decor.
Expressionless, expresses God: it goes
Past castled Sion. She knows what God knows,
Not Calvary’s Cross nor crib at Bethlehem
Now, and the world shall come to Walsingham. |
Links:
Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham |
Supported
by Norfolk Tourism