Pilgrim Ways

Norwich To East Dereham Pilgrims from the east travelled through Norwich and Attlebridge and some stayed at the Hospital of Bec where free accommodation was provided each night for thirteen pilgrims. By taking this route, starting at Ely, the modern pilgrim can encounter some of the great women of the Church, St.Etheldreda of Ely, one of the most single-minded of the Anglo-Saxon saints, and Mother Julian of Norwich, the great English mystic. At Bury-St-Edmunds not only was there another of the great English shrines, to the Saxon King, St.Edmund, but here, too, the English barons drew up Magna Carta in 1215. At East Dereham is the site of a nunnery founded by St.Withburga, whose remains were stolen and removed to Ely in 974. A holy well sprang up at the site of her grave and still flows in the churchyard. From East Dereham the pilgrim may make their way to North Elmham, where the ruins of the vast Saxon cathedral may still be seen. From here it is fourteen miles to Walsingham.

The Walsingham Way From London, pilgrims travelled through Newmarket, Brandon and Fakenham to East Barsham and Houghton. This route was called the Walsingham Way or the Walsingham Green Way. Along the pilgrim routes chapels and shrines were erected. Two survive: one at King‟s Lynn (The chapel of Our Lady of the Red Mount) and one at Houghton-in-the-Dale, dedicated to St.Catherine of Alexandria, and also known as the Slipper Chapel.

Turbulent Times The huge numbers of people who followed the road to Walsingham contributed to its undoing. Undoubtedly by the fifteenth century there were plenty who were prepared to profiteer at the expense of the pilgrims. The picture has been coloured by retrospective attempts to justify what then followed. The Church has often been caricatured as wholly corrupt and capable only of reform by destruction. The subsequent ability of the Council of Trent to deal with reform and to tackle decay, and the launch of the counter Reformation movement, illustrates how excesses could successfully be dealt with. The real cause of Walsingham‟s undoing was the greed and pride of Henry VIII, who until months before the Pope, Clement VII, refused to sanction his divorce, had found no fault with the practice of pilgrimage or devotion at Walsingham. Indeed, he had himself been there on pilgrimage. His decision to defy the authority of the Church led him to establish himself as supreme head of the Church in England and through the appointment of Thomas Cromwell as his Vicar General, he then set about the sequestration of church lands and the destruction of religious communities that might defy his power. In 1538 Walsingham became the target for Cromwell‟s Visitors. The armed gangs who carried out his orders were not interested in religious reform, only in destruction.

Walsingham Rebellion When one local man, George Gisborough, said he thought “it very evil done, the suppressing of so many religious houses where God was well served” it led to a protest which was dubbed the “Walsingham Rebellion.” Free speech led to the execution of eleven Norfolk men who were hanged, drawn, beheaded and quartered at various towns in Norfolk. For his “high treason” the Sub-prior was burnt alive on Walsingham‟s Martyr‟s Hill. The Prior, along with fifteen other canons, capitulated on August 4th 1538 and signed deeds of surrender. The image of the Virgin had already been taken to London and publicly burnt at Chelsea. Henry