- Devotional shrine
Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham
Our Lady of Walsingham
At Walsingham, the Church prays with Mary at the moment she welcomed the Word made flesh. The Catholic shrine at Houghton St Giles is the restored center of that pilgrimage, distinct from the lost medieval Holy House in Little Walsingham.
- Location
- Walsingham, England
- Shrine type
- Devotional shrine
- Marian title
- Our Lady of Walsingham
- Time needed
- A few hours
- Allow time for prayer and confirm the current liturgical program before travel.
Come to ponder the Word becoming flesh.
The Slipper Chapel is small enough to make a pilgrim slow down. Nearby, the Chapel of Our Lady of Reconciliation receives the larger pilgrim gatherings. Mass, confession, Eucharistic Adoration and the Rosary shape this living shrine according to its current program. From this precinct the pilgrim can continue toward Little Walsingham and the place of the original Holy House.
What happened here.
A medieval pilgrimage was broken in the Reformation and restored on different ground.
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Richeldis and the Holy House
Catholic devotional tradition dates Richeldis de Faverches’s vision to 1061. The detailed surviving account is much later, especially the fifteenth-century Pynson Ballad; it is not contemporary documentation.
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A documented shrine and priory
An Augustinian priory developed beside the Marian shrine at Little Walsingham.
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Suppression
The priory and original Holy House were suppressed and destroyed. The Slipper Chapel survived in secular use.
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Catholic restoration
Charlotte Pearson Boyd purchased the Slipper Chapel in 1896; public Catholic pilgrimage returned from King’s Lynn in 1897. The chapel became the Catholic National Shrine in 1934.
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A larger living precinct
The Chapel of Reconciliation was built in 1980–82. Pope Francis granted Minor Basilica status to the National Shrine precinct in 2015.
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A feast for England
Our Lady of Walsingham is celebrated on September 24; from 2024 the observance has the rank of Feast in the dioceses of England.
Enter the shrine slowly
Consult the live daily program for Mass, confession, Adoration and Rosary.
- 01 Mass Check the current program before planning around a liturgy.
- 02 Confession Reconciliation is part of the shrine’s living ministry; confirm availability.
- 03 The Rosary Pray with Mary toward Christ, the Word made flesh.
What to notice, without rushing.
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01
Slipper Chapel
The surviving medieval wayside chapel stands within the Catholic shrine precinct.
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02
Chapel of Reconciliation
The modern chapel receives larger gatherings for worship.
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03
The onward way
Locate the Holy Mile and Pilgrim Way before setting out toward Little Walsingham.
How long to stay, and what to pray.
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A few hours Prayer at the Catholic shrinePilgrims beginning at Houghton St GilesThis plan saves
- Enter the Slipper Chapel
- Pray at the Chapel of Reconciliation
- Join worship if the current schedule permits
3 stops -
A full day The whole sacred landscapePilgrims walking on to Little WalsinghamThis plan saves
- Begin at the Catholic shrine
- Choose the Holy Mile or Pilgrim Way
- Continue through Little Walsingham to the priory grounds
3 stops
The lives this shrine remembers.
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Patron of Walsingham
The Blessed Virgin Mary
Mother of GodThe shrine places Mary’s yes to God at the heart of its prayer.
The shrine is south of the village
The Catholic National Shrine and Slipper Chapel stand at Houghton St Giles. The medieval priory and original Holy House site lie in Little Walsingham to the north. The modern Anglican Shrine there is a separate institution with its own twentieth-century Holy House.
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Catholic National Shrine Houghton St Giles Slipper Chapel and Chapel of Reconciliation.
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Medieval site Little Walsingham Priory ruins and marked original Holy House site.
Official shrine · walsingham.org.uk
A living Catholic National Shrine
Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham is the National Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham and a Minor Basilica by grant of Pope Francis in 2015.
Where a pilgrimage goes next.
Photo credits
- Hero. Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham - geograph.org.uk - 7491928. Photo: Eirian Evans, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Source. CC BY-SA 2.0.