Matilda Williams
AN221 Anthropology of Christianity
Dr. Fenella Cannell
Word count: 971
A Pilgrimage to Walsingham February 2010
The Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk has been a pilgrimage site for nearly a
thousand years. The village itself is an eclectic mix of both ancient and modern holy
places, regular modern amenities, accommodation and provisions for pilgrims and
tourists, as well as, in my experience, a lively night life.
Pilgrims travel to Walsingham to visit the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady, bring their hopes
and prayers, and often leave having found peace, comfort and healing. Guardians of the
Shrine claim that it spans the ages, utilising its heritage and tradition to speak to the
hearts and minds of people today. The atmosphere in Walsingham is one of religious
acceptance; the Anglican Church housing an Orthodox Chapel in its rafters, the Shrine
shop selling religious artefacts associated with a range of Christian denominations and
the village hosting not just the Anglican Shrine, but also a Catholic Shrine a mile down
the road. The Slipper Chapel was bought by Charlotte Boyd in 1895 and restored for
Catholic use. However today neither Shrine is exclusive; both are equally important parts
of the journey for some pilgrims who walk ‘the Holy Mile’ between the two. The fact
that the two buildings supposedly have different congregations and run different services
is seemingly irrelevant to many of these pilgrims, Anglican or Catholic or otherwise.
The irony of Walsingham as I see it is that the ecumenical feel is taken only so far as the
particular churches can carry it. This sense of religious community exists in the Our Lady
of Walsingham Anglican Shrine, the Shrine shop, the Café Bar, Refectory and the pilgrim
accommodation but is stretched thin in the town itself and with the personal opinions of
the locals, priests and regular pilgrims. The religious split was highlighted clearly by the
pubs that pilgrims, priests and locals chose to visit; the pilgrimage shops other than the
shrine shop which were divided by title although arguably not always by content and by
the information available in the town centre about Catholic services in the Slipper Chapel
which is on the outskirts. The Shrine Church made a point to welcome all Christian
pilgrims but in conversations with the Orthodox priest, it transpired that the priests of the
different denominations in Walsingham had very little time to engage with one another
aside from social niceties.
Walsingham is an embracing whole within which different and fairly exclusive pockets
exist, harmoniously but with little contact. This allows pilgrims to make anything they
want from their visit, picking and choosing the services or ceremonies they attend in
order to make their experience personal and relevant to their particular needs. This is the
reason that Walsingham is successful as a pilgrimage site: it can cater to Christians with
varying requirements and of degrees of belief.
The nature of Walsingham as a site of pilgrimage gives it a complex identity. Whilst a
place of worship that is respected and revered for an impressive span of history, it seems
to me that there is an undercurrent of impermanence that comes as a result of it being an
ecumenical site and a place of pilgrimage. This for me is highlighted by the following
example. As previously mentioned, the Orthodox Chapel rests in the rafters of the shrine
building. The Chapel is run by the Orthodox priest and his wife who describe themselves
as ‘aging’. In conversation with them, age was brought up frequently. As a couple they
had run a parish before deciding that the responsibility was too much for them. In taking
on the Orthodox shrine in the Anglican Chapel at Walsingham, they were responsible for
a service each Sunday and the maintenance of the chapel itself.
The priest’s wife told me that if they had regulars to the Sunday service, they often
advised them to join the permanent Orthodox parish in Greater Walsingham. When I
expressed my confusion that the Chapel would be turning people away (there was just
one family of four at the service we attended), she laughed and told me that they were too
old to be running round after a congregation. They liked the peace and quiet of their life
at the chapel and although they welcomed worshippers, the chapel was a place for brief
visits rather than long stays.
As a result, the Orthodox chapel never has a guaranteed congregation. The Sunday
service might only be attended by the priest and his wife, or, as on the weekend we
visited, there could be a group of anthropology students. Whether or not pilgrims travel to
Walsingham and attend not just the Orthodox services, but also participate in Anglican or
Catholic rituals seems to be irregular and subtle competition between denominations as
seen by the fact that their services run at the same time, consequently establishes
fluctuating numbers of worshippers. There are established dates in the Walsingham
calendar which regularly draw in hundreds of worshippers. The May pilgrimage is hugely
attended and many of the pilgrims we spoke to on the 27th and 28th intended to return for
this celebration and had done so for many years, but for most of the year there is little
assurance of the numbers of pilgrims that will visit Walsingham
The irregular numbers or pilgrims to Walsingham throughout most of the year may be a
result of the nature of pilgrimage itself. Whilst local congregations maintain regular
patterns of service and attendance, a pilgrimage is special and a break from the norm. In
this way, pilgrimage is by nature indefinable, but this leaves the priests, shrine officers,
shop attendants and villagers somewhat in the lurch as to when pilgrims will turn up, who
they will be, and which services or rituals they will attend – as demonstrated by a coach
full of anthropology students on the 27th and 28th of February 2010.