(_For the Mirror_.)
"What led (says Britton) to the great celebrity which the town of Old
Walsingham, Norfolk, obtained for centuries, was the widow lady of
Ricoldie Faverches founding, about the year 1061, a small chapel, in
honour of the Virgin Mary, similar to the Sancta Casa at Nazareth.
"Sir Geoffrey de Favenches, or Faverches, her son, confirmed the
endowments, made an additional foundation of a priory for Augustine
canons, and erected a conventual church. The numerous gifts and grants
to this famous religious house form one of those extensive and dull
mazes of ecclesiastical record, through which the historic topographer
is constrained to wade. At the Dissolution, the annual revenues of the
monastery were valued, according to Speed, at 446_l._ 14_s._ 4_d_.
That its wealth should have been immensely great is not surprising,
when the fame of the image of the _Lady of Walsingham_ is taken into
the account; for it was as much frequented, if not more than the
shrine of St. Thomas à Becket, at Canterbury. Foreigners of all
nations came hither on pilgrimage; many kings and queens of England
also paid devoirs to it: so that the number and quality of her
devotees appeared to equal those of the Lady Loretto, in Italy.
Spelman observes, that it is said King Henry the Eighth, in the second
year of his reign, walked _barefooted_ from the village of Basham to
this place, and then presented a valuable necklace to the image. Of
this costly present, as well as the other saleable appendages,
Cromwell doubtless took good care, when, by his master's orders, he
seized the image, and burnt it at Chelsea.
"Erasmus, who visited this place, says, that the chapel, then
rebuilding, was distinct from the church, and inside of it was a small
chapel of wood, on each side of which was a little, narrow door,
where those who were admitted came with their offerings, and paid
their devotions; that it was lighted up with wax torches, and that the
glitter of gold, silver, and jewels would lead you to suppose it to be
the seat of the gods.
"In one of his colloquies, entitled, _Peregrinatio_, is a very
humorous description of the superstitions of this place. The monks had
contrived to persuade many that the _galaxy_ in the heavens was a
miraculous indication of the _way_ to this place. Hence that was
called _Walsingham Way._
"The present remains of this once noble monastic pile, is a portal, or
west entrance; a rich ornamented lofty arch, sixty feet high, which
formed the east end of the church, supposed to have been erected in
the time of Henry the Seventh; the refectory, seventy-eight feet long
and twenty-seven broad, and the walls twenty-six and a half feet in
height; a Saxon arch, part of the original chapel, which has a zig-zag
moulding; part of the old cloisters, a stone bath, and two uncovered
wells, called the _Wishing Wells_. The devotees to the _Lady of
Walsingham_ were taught to believe, that whoever had permission to
drink of these waters could obtain, under certain restrictions,
whatever they might wish for."
"The principal part of the venerable ruins are included in the
pleasure gardens of Henry Lee Warner, Esq., who has a large,
commodious house, which occupies the site of the priory. The present
proprietor has progressively, for some years past, been making various
improvements in planting and laying out the grounds in the immediate
vicinity of the mansion. Among the recent embellishments of the place
is a new bridge across the rivulet, in front of the house, and
widening the course of the stream, so as to give it the appearance of
a lake. Contiguous to this water, and intermixed in a fine grove of
large trees, are the various fragments of the ruins already noticed.
Some of these are interesting relics of architectural antiquity; and
though several detached parts remain, yet we cannot (says Britton)
but regret the wasteful destruction that has taken place at
this once celebrated place of monastic splendour and human
superstition."--_Beauties of England and Wales_, vol. ix.--Norfolk.
It has been supposed that Henry the Eighth, tempted by the riches and
splendour of the religious houses at Walsingham, precipitated their
fall.