When Henry VIII made the pilgrimage to Walsingham (this was before his monastery-dissolving days) he walked the last mile in bare feet. You, however, can visit the village in more comfort, thanks to the Wells and Walsingham Light Railway.
It is a 10¼" line, which is tiny even by narrow gauge standards, but it takes itself wonderfully seriously. It starts some way outside Wells Next-the-Sea but reaches almost to the centre of Walsingham, a distance of four miles.
Walsingham itself suffers from a surfeit of religious trinketry, but it is a lovely spacious village with fine buildings, pubs and teashops. It fell into eclipse after the Reformation, with the happy result that no one could afford to replace the Medieval buildings.
Now pilgrimage is all the rage, but the Church of England and the Roman Catholics cannot agree on the precise site to visit. Meanwhile, the original Walsingham station is now a Russian Orthodox chapel.
Another fragment from my holiday in Norfolk.
1 comment:
I was in Walsingham recently and took some pictures
Post a Comment