The Walsingham Archives
The Archives of the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham
Welcome
The Walsingham Archives websites were created to provide a way of accessing our
history through documents, photographs and artefacts. We hope that together they will
give present and future generations of pilgrims, especially those who never knew
Walsingham in Father Patten's lifetime, a picture of how it all started, what pilgrimage
was like in those days and how it and the buildings have changed over nearly a
hundred years.
How best to find your way around this site
THE NAV BAR (left) is on every page and links to the first page of each section, or
back to here (Home), from wherever you are on the site. And there’s always the browser’s
back arrow, which should be specially useful for getting back to where you were in the
Index before you followed a link elsewhere, or back from another page of this or the other
websites.
THE SITE MAP gives a detailed menu of each section, with its sub-menus and pages,
good for seeing the shape of the site, and for quick access to individual pages.
THE SELECT INDEX is of people, places and things in the Shrine’s history, particularly of
those whom we meet in the records. It is NOT a comprehensive index of the whole site, but
for help with other specific names or subjects, or if you just can’t find what you’re looking
for, contact the honorary archivist, as above.
To find out about the history of the Shrine and its Restoration by Fr Patten try
THE SHRINE’S OWN HISTORY PAGE ‘The Story So Far’
then don’t forget to come back and read on …
BIOGRAPHIES of FR PATTEN lists books and monographs about his life and work: the
first definitive biography didn’t appear until 2006, when Michael Yelton published his Alfred
Hope Patten and the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, An illustrated biography. Michael
had unrestricted access to the archives and other sources, and this book gives the greatest
detail about Fr Patten’s life and the history of the Shrine in his time to be found in a single
volume. The book sold out very quickly and has been unavailable for years. The good news
is that a revised edition was published on 1 June 2022. This incorporates much
information coming to light since 2006. (Available from the Shrine Shop and online.)
On Trinity Sunday 2021 was published Vicars of Walsingham 1921-2021, a series of
profiles of Fr Patten and successive parish priests, written by Fr William Davage SSC. This
was to commemorate the centenary year of Fr Patten’s appointment.
THE BIBLIOGRAPHY lists the best-known books about Fr Patten and the restored Shrine.
Core books relating to the history of Medieval Walsingham are listed in the Medieval
Bibliography.
And see the IMPORTANT DATES IN THE SHRINE’S HISTORY.
LIST OF MASTERS OF THE GUARDIANS & PRIEST ADMINISTRATORS
LINK TO THE SHRINE’S OWN WEBSITE
FR MICHAEL REAR’s Walsingham: Pilgrims and Pilgrimage (2019) is the second
(revised) edition of his comprehensive history from the pre-Christian era to the
present day. During his research he too made thorough use of our Shrine’s
archives.
About the archive websites and Privacy and Cookies
© 2005-2024 WCTA Ltd, IMFS and the Estate of Enid Chadwick throughout unless otherwise stated
PHOTOGRAPHS: all photographs are © as below, or are reproduced with permission; in the very few
cases where copyright has not been established, all reasonable steps have been taken to do so, and new
information will be welcomed.
Fr Alfred Hope Patten, Claude Fisher, Stanley Smith and Kenneth Faircloth were responsible for most of
the early local photographs, including many used in Our Lady's Mirror: where applicable their copyright is
acknowledged. Most of the modern-day photographs on this site are © Graham Howard: other
photographers are acknowledged on their work, and those remaining not acknowledged are © WCTA Ltd.
top of the page
Welcome to the history of the restored Shrine from its archives
The old website has been divided into four parts.
This one contains most of the old site. History hasn’t
changed and it’s all here, slightly revised and
updated where necessary. The other sites are
https://www.waaolm.org.uk [Our Lady’s Mirror]
https://www.waapublications.org.uk
https://www.walsinghamanglicanmedieval.org.uk
We believe that all the facts on these sites are
accurate, and that we have used the most reliable
sources and witnesses. If anything jars with your own
knowledge or recollection, please do contact the
honorary archivist (as below) so that together we can
get the record straight for posterity.
A 1930s photograph, looking up Holt Road, with Stella Maris
Hospice (now House) on right. A photograph taken at the same
time, from the other direction, is on the Sisters’ page.
Fr Alfred Hope Patten
Restorer of the Shrine
Master of the Guardians
TO CONTACT THE HONORARY ARCHIVIST PLEASE USE olwarchives [at] btinternet.com
or write ℅ The College, Walsingham NR22 6EF marking the envelope ‘Please Forward’