In1538 the statue of Our Lady was taken from the Shrine and burnt at Chelsea and the Holy House was destroyed.  Public devotion came an end and only a mound in the grass by the Priory ruins remains to mark its site.

In 1061, Richeldis, Lady of the Manor of Walsingham, was inspired by Our Lady to build a Shrine, a simple replica of the Holy House in Nazareth.  This she did and within a century Walsingham had become one of the great shrines of Christianity, ranking with Rome, Jerusalem and Copostella.  Sadly Walsingham was unable to stand against Henry VIII (8th) and the Canons of the Priory signed the Act of Supremacy.

Walsingham lay within the area of the King’s Lynn Mission when Fr George Wrigglesworth came to Lynn and he became keen to revive devotion to Our Lady of Walsingham.  With the help of Father Philip Fletcher, co-founder of the Guild of Our Lady of Ransom, he petitioned Pop Leo XIII (13th) to incorporate a restored shrine to Our Lady of Walsingham in the church at Lynn. His Holiness gladly assented and granted a Rescript on the 6th February 1897, restoring the ancient Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham at King’s Lynn.

The Shrine Chapel is a reproduction, on a reduced scale, of the Holy House in Nazareth at Loreto.  The altar, too is a copy of that at Loreto.

Until the 1960s the Shrine was lit by fifteen hanging lamps representing the Mysteries of the Rosary and the ceiling was painted to depict them.

Since the likeness of the original Walsingham statue was not known at the time, the Pope directed that a new statue be copied from the picture of Our Lady venerated in the Roman Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, the titular church of Cardinal Pole, who died in 1556, the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury.  The statue was carved in wood at Oberammergau, and having been blessed by the Pope on the day the Rescript for the Shrine was granted, it was brought to King’s Lynn on the 19th August 1897.

Not only were the Catholics of Lynn and district at the railway station to receive the statue, many had come from all parts of England ant the whole route to the new church was lined by the people of Lynn, who were reported to be very respectful, even reverent.

A halt was made at the Red Mount Chapel (built in 1485) in the Walks were the people saluted Our Lady’s return with the Salve Regina. An annual procession to the Red Mount commemorating this event continued until 1984.

On the following day, 20th August 1897, the first public pilgrimage to Walsingham since the Reformation took place, led by Father Philip Fletcher and Fr George Wrigglesworth.

There was a procession from Walsingham railway station to the Slipper Chapel where prayer were offered and visits were made to the Priory Ruins.

The Guild of Our Lady of Ransom continued to lead pilgrimages to King’s Lynn until 1934 when it was at last possible to restore the National Shrine to the Slipper Chapel at Walsingham.

Pilgrims continued to visit the Shrine in King’s Lynn.  In the 1060s when the church was renovated, the Shrine was simplified and the lamps, ceiling paintings and screen removed. One of the lamps can now be seen in a window in the side aisle.

The Shrine was thoroughly refurbished and the Statue and altar repainted and gilded at the expense of the Guild of Ransom in time for the Centenary celebrations in August 1997.

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The Word was made flesh, and lived among us.

Our Lady of Walsingham, pray for us.