Walsingham

Walsingham ( pronunciation: [ wɔ lsɪŋʌm ː ] ) is a town in the English county of Norfolk. It became famous place especially through its Marie altars and its status as a place of pilgrimage. In the village there are also ruins of two monasteries of the Middle Ages.

The local church, consisting of the villages of Little Walsingham and Great Walsingham, and the smaller the medieval deserted village Egmere, covers an area of 18.98 km ². The census in 2001 showed a population of 864 people in 397 households. Administratively, the community belongs to the district of North Norfolk.

In the 11th century Walsingham became a major pilgrimage site. In the year 1061 is here, the Anglo-Norman nobles Richeldis de Faverches the Virgin Mary be published. In this vision de Faverches received from the Mother of God commissioned in honor of the Annunciation of the Lord to build a replica of the house of the Holy Family from Nazareth. 1150 an Augustinian Canons was founded next to the Marian shrine. The buildings were destroyed during the Reformation. The Pilgrimage to Our Lady of Walsingham was revived in the 19th and 20th centuries.