The Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady, at Walsingham, is to be found at the Slipper Chapel, which is in Houghton St Giles, a mile south of Walsingham. It has been established there since 1934. In 2015, Pope Francis declared the Shrine as a Minor Basilica.
The former railway line, now called ‘The Pilgrim Way,’ that leads south out of the Coach Park makes a very pleasant half hour stroll through the countryside direct to the Shrine. There is car and coach parking at both ends of the walk.
The Slipper Chapel
Believed to have been built in 1325, the Slipper Chapel was the last and most important of the wayside chapels that pilgrims would stop at on the numerous pilgrim routes to the pre-reformation Shrine in Walsingham.
Pilgrims stopped here before walking the final Holy Mile to the original Holy House in Walsingham. The Chapel is dedicated to St Catherine, the patron saint of pilgrims.
The name ‘Slipper Chapel’ may come from the fact that pilgrims frequently removed their shoes for the final mile of pilgrimage, or it may come from the word slype meaning a way through or something in between, the slype or slip chapel standing as it did between the Holy Land of Walsingham and the rest of England.
After the Reformation the Chapel became successively a poor house, a forge, a barn, and even a cow byre. In 1894, the ruin was bought by Miss Charlotte Pearson Boyd, restored and was eventually given back the Roman Catholic Church.
A shrine in King’s Lynn
The original pre-reformation (RC) Shrine stood in the village from 1061 until its destruction in 1538 by Henry VIII’s commissioners.
In 1897, Pope Leo XIII gave permission for the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham to be re-founded and this was inaugurated at the Lady Chapel of the Church of the Annunciation on London Road in King’s Lynn, then the parish church for all Roman Catholics in this area of North Norfolk.
From there, the first public pilgrimage since the Reformation came to Walsingham on 20th August 1897. The King’s Lynn shrine can still be visited today, and is a replica of the Holy House of Loreto, somewhat similar to that found in the 1930s’ Anglican Shrine.
Welcoming pilgrims
The Slipper Chapel today welcomes about 250,000 pilgrims and visitors throughout the year, with the main pilgrimage season being from Palm Sunday to the end of October, each year.
The Chapel of Reconciliation
As well as the Slipper Chapel, there is the large Chapel of Reconciliation, where most major pilgrimages take place. This was consecrated by the Bishop of East Anglia in 1982. This Chapel has a capacity of about 500, and when numbers for Mass frequently exceed this, it can be opened to the Shrine grounds, so that several thousand people can attend Mass together.
The Tamil Pilgrimages
Among the biggest of 36 major pilgrimages in the course of a single year, are the three Tamil Pilgrimages. These very colourful pilgrimages regularly attract between six and nine thousand Tamil pilgrims.
Shrine Facilities
A well-stocked Gift Shop, plus a Tea Room, providing good home-cooked food and excellent cakes, are to be found beside the Candle Cloister, along with the Shrine Pilgrimage and Mass office.
Mass & Confession times
Although Mass times differ according to each pilgrimage, there is usually always a 12 noon Pilgrim Mass. Confessions are heard each morning.
Details of the Shrine’s daily programme of services and calendar of Pilgrimages can be viewed in full at the Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady website.
The Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady, at Walsingham also offers accommodation at Elmham House, Friday Market in Walsingham, and they can be reached by email at: reservations@walsingham.org.uk
Location
