If any destinations have accrued the hope and desire of the walker, it is the sites of pilgrimage. Walsingham in Norfolk is a Marian shrine that has been embraced by Established, Catholic and Orthodox churches in the C20th.
With the dissolution of the monasteries came the destruction of the priory. The remains of the abbey here glimpsed through the bars of the gatehouse.
Ecclesiastical supplier's window with multi-scale simulacra of saints.
Priced altar furniture.
Methodist Church, mostly classical lines and a counterpoint to the exuberance elsewhere.
Lock up for spiritual failures. Alarmingly reminiscent of a clay kiln.
Abbey gatehouse, much denuded of saints. Ghostly roofline and mixed architectural main street.
On 20 August 1897 the first post-reformation pilgrimage took place to the slipper chapel (1338). The big top is for a Catholic youth festival. The chapel was where pilgrims removed their shoes for the last "holy mile" to Walsingham.
Contemporary pilgrimage transport, including archangelic spare wheel cover.
Holy water on tap
Greek Orthodox Church of St Seraphim in the former Walsingham railway station. The station doubles as a railway museum and Icon gallery, surely a unique enterprise?
The former track bed is home to the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway.
To Wells on 10 1/4" track. The palimpsest of religious denominations, architecture, history and commerce make Walsingham a moving and surreal experience. Pure Chaucer and definitely worth a second visit.
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