=--Single 19s. 7d. ... 10s. 3d.
Return 33s. 3d. ... 20s. 6d.
=Accommodation Obtainable.=--"Black Lion Hotel," "Abbeygate
Temperance Hotel," etc.
The ruins of the famous priory are now included in the extensive grounds
of Walsingham Abbey, the property of Mr. Henry Lee Warner. Visitors have
permission to see these ruins on Wednesdays and Fridays, by application
at the lodge of the abbey.
Walsingham is a pretty village 5 miles from Wells-on-Sea. It possesses a
noble church in the Perpendicular style, an ancient town pump, and two
wishing wells, which were formerly believed to possess miraculous
powers, for the legend is that they sprang from the ground at command of
the Virgin. Walsingham was an important place for many centuries, for it
contained the famous shrine of the Virgin, or, as it was called, "Our
Lady of Walsingham." This far-famed chapel of the Virgin was founded by
Ricoldie, the mother of Geoffrey de Faverches. When Geoffrey set out on
a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, he granted to God and St. Mary, and to Edwy,
his clerk, the chapel which his mother Ricoldie had built at Walsingham,
with other possessions, requesting him to found a priory there. It
became one of the richest in the world. From the very commencement there
was an unceasing flow of pilgrims from all nations to it. Several kings
and queens of England, and among them Henry VIII., paid their devotions
there. Erasmus, who visited the priory in 1511, derided its enormous
wealth.
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