THE WALSINGHAMS & WIGHTON
LITTLE WALSINGHAM : CHURCH OF ST MARY
Church Post Code NR22 6BL
Open to visitors
Visited October 2021
It was early October 2021, in the middle of a five day Norfolk churchcrawl, which fell foul of the weather for the most part. The Thursday had promised fine weather throughout; but that forecast proved to be over optimistic, the bank of clouds over the church of St Mary, Little Walsingham looking ominous, with the rain starting soon after.
The Walsinghams, Little and Great, can be found between Wells Next The Sea and Fakenham; neighbouring villages that adjoin each other. The river Stiffkey runs close by.
It was good to be back at Little Walsingham; my third visit here in fifteen years. Walsingham in a Christian centre of great spiritual and historical importance. In 1061 a Saxon noble woman Richeldis De Faverches saw a vision of the Virgin Mary in the village. She was instructed to build a replica of the home of the holy family at Nazareth. This she did and the village was to become one of the most important centres of pilgrimage in Western Europe.
The shrine was dismantled at the time of the reformation, as was the nearby Abbey, the ruins of which stand in the centre of the village. The Anglican shrine was reintroduced in the early 1930's. The village main street is, unless there is a pilgrimage going on, normally quiet and peaceful. One of my most treasured churchcrawling memories was spending a Sunday morning some years ago in Little Walsingham, watching the village very slowly come to life; with the only people out on the streets early on being vicars, monks and nuns.
Standing in the church grounds, looking at the church of St Mary, Little Walsingham, the visitor could well find themselves thinking that something is not quite right about the exterior. The church, with the exception of the west tower and south porch, looks crisp and modern in comparison, and this is correct. In 1961 the church was burned down, with only the tower and south porch surviving! A few things inside survived as well, which I will come to in a moment. In a lovely moment of English gallows humour eccentricity, the Walsingham parish website relates that the fire finally eradicated the death watch beetle which had previously affected the church!
The church here consists of west tower with battlemented parapet and recessed spire, double decker south porch, nave with north and south aisles and clerestories, south chapel and chancel. A bench is set against the south porch looking out across what is probably my favourite Norfolk church grounds. The church was open to visitors, with entry via a door in the west face of the tower.
St Mary was re-consecrated in August 1964 and I was interested to see some consecration crosses on the walls of the nave. When the church was consecrated, 12 places on the inside and 12 on the outside of the church would be prayed over, with holy oil being sprinkled. It is quite rare to see these, but these like the exterior and very crisp and show no sign of age so I assuming that they date from the time of the re-consecration!
A statue of the crucifixion hangs over the chancel arch; with both this and the fine east window dating from the time of the re-building. The east window is modern in design, with designs formed in a mosaic style. Centre piece of the upper row of five lights is the Madonna and child, with this design being taken from the seal of Walsingham Priory. Also of note here is a depiction of St Catherine, with wheel and St Lawrence with grid iron; each portraying the means of their martyrdom.
On the lower row of five lights, Richeldis De Faverches receives her vision and is told what should be built here! She kneels beside Edward The Confessor whilst off to the side, Henry VIII is portrayed; representing the monarchs who visited here over the centuries. Henry VIII visited the shrine of more than one occasion, once staying at Barsham Manor and then walking two miles barefoot to Walsingham where he placed a "gold circlet round Our Lady's neck". The same monarch was to lead to its destruction years later!
The seven sacrament font here is considered to be one of the finest in Norfolk, and it survived the fire. There is a pinkish hue to the stone in places, which happens when some types of stone are exposed to great heat. The octagonal font has seven panels denoting the seven sacraments of the catholic faith; baptism, confirmation, eucharist, confession, matrimony, anointing of the sick (extreme unction) and ordination. There is damage to the panels, this being the marks of the reformers in the 16th century. The eighth panel is the crucifixion. It is interesting to see that the cross is bare, Jesus having been removed. John, standing to the right of the cross as we look at it is without head, but the depiction of the Virgin Mary is pretty much untouched! A fascinating historical treasure.
Another survival of the fire is a monument to Sir Henry Sidney and his wife. Both are recumbent, with hands raised in prayer. He is dressed in armour, with head resting on helmet and gauntlets. He passed away in 1612, she some 26 years later. Also surviving the fire are some brasses which survived the worst of the flames as they were at that time set in to the floor.
The church grounds are delightfully secluded, with my only company on the day being some pheasants in the trees to the south. There is an interesting selection of 18th century gravestones here, with the human skull peering out on a few reminding the onlooker that Man is mortal and will die. An angel blows a trumpet on one, this symbolising the resurrection on the final day.
Whilst in the grounds, sheltering under the trees as a brief shower passed through, I thought back to a novel that I read during the previous winter. This covered the Black Death of 1348 and mainly looked at the fears of the population of a small Suffolk village as the black death grew closer. A party of pilgrims from the village got together to march to Walsingham to pray for deliverance from the forthcoming tempest. I wonder what it must have been like; with thousands of people, in great distress all descending on this small village to pray for their lives and the lives of their loved ones! It has been estimated that around 25 million people died in Europe from the Black Death from 1347 until 1351. It had been a terrible time for us recently as covid hit, but others have had it worse through history!
For those eagled eyes visitors looking at this page, you will notice that the photographs immediately below are from a previous visit; with the daffodils on the photo far right definitely not being in flower in October, when the rest of the shots were taken.
GREAT WALSINGHAM : CHURCH OF ST PETER
Church Post Code NR22 6DW
Open to visitors
The rain eased off and I headed off towards St Peter at Great Walsingham. There were few people about, which has always been the case when I have been here previously. Two men chatted in a charity shop doorway and a vicar nodded hello as we passed, and that was pretty much it! The centre of the village here has a pumphouse on it, which dates back to 1550; which has a brazier on it which is lit on special occasions. The main street has a selection of religious souvenir shops on it and there is the museum of the Blessed Mary which by all accounts has an interesting collection of medieval pilgrim badges. Heading vaguely easterly I passed by the gatehouse of the abbey ruins, which I had visited on a previous occasion, and the Anglican shrine, where a lovely old Routemaster bus passed by bedecked in ribbons, en route to a wedding. A coach party was just unloading at the shrine as I walked past. The gradually increasing sounds of children at play indicated that I was getting closer to Great Walsingham church.
The church of St Peter stands in isolation at the side of a minor road. The church here is thought to have been built around 1320 and consists of west tower, south porch, nave with north and south aisles and north vestry. There is no chancel here; this having been lost during the 16th century. A small part is left standing today.
The tower is square and buttressed with stair turret to the south east corner. The south porch has a beautiful flushwork parapet and two empty image niches which would have contained statues in pre reformation days. The clerestory windows to north and south are round, with quatrefoil designs. Looking at the church from the east, the chancel arch is bricked in with two windows being added. A fine church!
There was a real sense of peace and calm here. The distant cries of the children had stopped as lunchtime was over. A solitary woman walking her dog off in the distance saw me and waved hello. Apart from that there was not a soul around. What a pleasant place to have spent lockdown in, sitting alone with just a book while the world got on with what horrors it was inflicting...
The church here was open to visitors. There is a real feel of the age of the place here, which for obvious reasons can't be replicated at Little Walsingham. While all is 'new' and polished there, here at St Peter we see uneven tiles leading to the alter; countless thousands of feet over hundreds of years showing a continuity of worship. For me it is the same when I see wooden carvings worn away by countless hands over the years. The same can be said with the apostles symbolised in 15th century wooden bench ends here, in the same form that they were symbolised in glass in the 19th century a few miles away in Wighton later that day.
There is a consecration cross on the wall of the nave which would date back to the time that the church was originally consecrated during the first half of the 14th century. In the south chapel a reredos depicting the nativity, with a smaller depiction of the crucifixion adds a splash of colour. Over to the north, a statue of St Peter holds a Bible and the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
The wine glass pulpit has a date of 1613 on it and looks as if it might have built using some panels from a rood screen.
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Within the church here is a fabulous collection of carved bench end, dating from the 15th century. The bench ends to the north are for the most part depictions of the 12 disciples, although one figure wearing a hat could be either a pilgrim or possibly a donor to the church. These show the marks of the reformers with the faces pretty much erased. Interestingly, the depiction of the pilgrim/donor points to the east, towards the holiest part of the church, with the first finger of his right hand. Could this indeed be the donor who was making a comment about where he was heading following his donation?
Included is St Andrew, depicted with saltire cross, St John who holds a chalice and St Bartholomew. The latter is depicted with skinning knife, denoting the manner of his martyrdom, and has lost half of his head. St Paul is shown with sword and St James The Less carries a club. In Christian art, he is depicted with the club but it is thought that he was crucified.
Over to the south we have a selection of mythical animals. One figure with impressive beard grips the end of the bench with impressive talons; another winged creature has lost part of its face and hands. Another beast with long hair and in need of some dental work wears a crown. A fabulous collection.
Most of the glass here is clear, but there are some very interesting medieval fragments to be seen high up in the tracery. In one, Jesus holds up his hands showing crucifixion wounds, from which blood continues to fall. Two tiny fragments contain the crowned heads of a male and female, this being a small section of what would have been a depiction of Mary being crowned Queen of heaven. Curiously, there are a couple of very small demon like heads included here!
In the south aisle, over the reredos of the nativity there are a couple of depictions of a human male head, which could well be St Peter. These are each produced in tones of brown; with a monochrome effect. Exquisite pieces of work both of them.
As with most of the church grounds in this area, there are some deaths head stones to be seen here. One looks particularly frightening, with sunken cavernous eye sockets and a growth of white lichen on top of the skull. The second pictured here a badly weathered and will be lost to us for good at some time soon. This has a human bone underneath the skull, another symbol of death and the mortality of Man. This also has plants growing on either side of the skull; new life amongst the death!
It was time to hit the road again, dodging the showers as I attempted to visit all of the churches on the main road between Wells Next the Sea and Fakenham. Next stop was nearby Houghton St Giles, where I was to photograph the church with rainbow alongside; one definite advantage of the showery conditions.
WIGHTON : CHURCH OF ALL SAINTS
Church Post Code NR23 1PL
Open to visitors
It was October 2021, and a few days spent in North Norfolk on a trip that was sadly blighted by poor weather. On a rare dry period, I visited the church of All Saints, Wighton. Wighton is some seven and a half miles north of Fakenham and four miles south of Wells Next The Sea. Walsingham, a page for which is included in this site, is three miles off to the south. Set close to the main road which runs through the village the church is a commanding sight. I stayed at a bed and breakfast in neighbouring Warham a few years ago and there are some lovely long distance views of All Saints to be had from Warham village.
Fond memories of visiting Wighton for the first time before I started photographing churches; visiting an aunt who lived in the village and hoping to take in Wighton's scarecrow festival. I arrived at roughly the same time as a terrific thunderstorm and spent my whole time there sitting in my aunts living room while the rain lashed down. A lovely, peaceful village.
All Saints consists of perpendicular west tower, nave with north and south aisles and clerestories, double decker south porch and chancel. The nave was reconstructed during the 15th century, with the work overseen by James Woderove, one of the most important mason architects of the day. The onlooker might notice that the flints on the tower look crisper than on the rest of the structure. This is due to the tower being rebuilt. The original tower, from 1300, fell in a storm in 1965 and this replacement tower was provided by a Canadian businessman who has relatives buried in the church grounds. The new tower was completed in 1976.
I have never found the church here closed to visitors; moving inside it is bright and welcoming, even on a dull day outside, the six clerestory windows to north and south doing their job; this is a small village church on a large scale! The village population was in the mid 200's at the time of the 2011 census and I daresay that it has never been all that high. The churches were not built for the size of the population of the parish, they were built on a grand scale to reduce the time that the donor and family had to spend in purgatory following death, the religion of this country being catholic prior to the reformation.
There is not a great deal of stained glass here, which helps the lighting situation on a dull day. Scattered throughout the nave are individual panels depicting Saints. They are depicted with symbols, sometimes detailing the manner of their martyrdom and I will look at these in a little more detail below.
The five light east window is of clear glass. The sanctuary is plain and tasteful; the altar just having a single cross on it. Four large candlesticks support a plain curtain which surrounds the altar on three sides. Standing at the chancel and looking towards the west, there is no tower arch, just a solid wall.
There is a little 15th century stained glass here. Two bare chested angels, wings curled tightly against them, can be seen in one window; in another four angels play lyra's. Interestingly, one of these musicians is left handed. Interesting as those who were left handed were often looked down on in medieval times; and were more likely to be accused of witchcraft.
There are two grotesques, happily retired in the nave, one of which pulls open its mouth in medieval gesture of insult, these no doubt previously being on the tower when it fell.
The font is interesting, as with the font as Fakenham it has the trinity shield and items of Christ's passion. This one also has scallop shells, a symbol of Christian pilgrimage and the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.
St James the Great
St Thomas
St Philip
St Bartholomew
St James, who along with his brother John were called sons of thunder by Jesus, and who were also part of the 12. He is the patron saint of pilgrims, and fishermen. He is portrayed here with a scallop shell hanging from his belt.
The scallop shell is an often used Christian symbol. This shell has many grooves on the outside which all meet at specific point on the inside of the shell. This symbolises the many paths that a life can take; all of which finally converge on Christ!
St James was beheaded for his belief and close look at this panel shows the straps of his travelling bag being wrapped around the hilt of a sword. He was the first of the 12 disciples to be martyred for his faith.
St Thomas, another of the 12 disciples, is famously known as 'Doubting Thomas' due to his refusal to accept that Christ had risen until he had personally touched His wounds.
He is portrayed here holding a spear; which again is the manner of his martyrdom. Sometimes the symbolism is different; being portrayed with a ruler as it was said that he once built a church by hand.
It is said that Thomas was killed by a spear by Jealous Hindu priests and he is still seen as the Patron Saint of India.
St Philip, also one of the 12. is depicted holding a basket of loaves. This is a reference to the feeding of the 5,000 when Jesus asks Philip where they would be able to find bread to feed the assembled crowd.
There are two suggestions as to his death. One is that he was beheaded, the other is that he was crucified upside down; preaching from the cross, from which he refused to be taken down when the crowd wanted him to be released
His name means lover of horses, and so he is regraded as the patron saint of horseback riders and horse breeders
St Bartholomew, another of the 12, is thought to be also known as Nathaniel in the Gospel of John. He is said to have been martyred for having converted Polymius, King of Armenia, to Christianity.
Again here, the manner of his martyrdom is indicated by what he is holding. He holds a knife, with him being skinned alive for his faith. Other reports suggest that he was crucified upside down.
Some depictions of St Bartholomew show him carrying his own skin.
Due to the nature of his death, St Bartholomew is the Patron Saint of, amongst other, tanners, leatherworkers and bookbinders,
St Barnabas
St Jude
St Paul
St John
There are 14 panels here and only 11 disciples, allowing that there is no panel for Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. So that leaves three who are not of the original 12.
Barnabas is one of these. He appears in Acts and his name means 'son of encouragement'. He was a firm supporter of the early church and made several missionary journeys with Paul.
Tradition states that he was dragged out of a synagogue whilst preaching and stoned to death.
His symbolism on this panel is interesting, as it does not symbolise his death but his evangelism. He holds a Bible, but with the pages looking outwards towards the onlooker.
St Jude, also one of the 12 disciples, who is also known as Thaddeus and sometimes Judas Thaddeus, is depicted here holding a boat. This is in reference to the number of boat trips he took when undertaking his missionary work.
Sometimes he id depicted holding an image of Christ close to his heart; on other occasions he is depicted with a club or an axe, the latter detailing the manner of his execution.
In the catholic church he is the patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes
Paul, previously known as Saul, is another who was not of the original 12. He was the arch persecutor of the early Christians, being present at the stoning of Stephen the first Christian martyr.
After being converted, after meeting with the risen Christ whilst on the road to Damascus, he devoted his life to preaching the word of Christ; going on to write 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament, some of which were written whilst being imprisoned by the Romans.
He is shown holding an axe, which signifies the manner of his martyrdom.
St. Paul is the patron saint of missionaries, evangelists, writers, journalists, authors, public workers, rope and saddle makers, and tent makers. The latter was his occupation before devoting his life to missionary work.
As mentioned earlier, along with his brother James, John was one of the 'sons of thunder'. He was the only one of the disciples not to be martyred. He is generally thought to be the youngest of the disciples and is always portrayed as looking young and clean shaven. John is the only male figure to be found at the foot of the cross after Jesus ' crucifixion.
Along with Peter, John would become one of the closest disciples to Jesus, this being reflected by him having the place of honour next to Jesus at the Last Supper, where John is normally depicted leaning against Jesus.
Here he is depicted with a serpent rising up out of a chalice. The story is said that, while in Ephesus, John was offered a glass of poisoned wine. Before drinking, he blessed the drink and the poison came out of the cup in the form of a serpent.
He is the patron saint of of love, loyalty, friendships, and authors
St Andrew
St Peter
St Mathias
St Matthew
St Andrew was another of the original 12 disciples, along with his brother Peter. Andrew was the first disciple to be called by Jesus, and he and his brother were to be among Jesus' closest disciples.
Here, Andrew is depicted carrying an X shaped cross; a saltire cross or cross of St Andrew, on which he was crucified. It is said that he believed himself to be unworthy of being crucified in the same way as Christ, so asked to be crucified on the X shaped cross instead. I was to see the same symbol a couple of miles away at Great Walsingham, on a carved 15th century bench end.
Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland as many will already know, but also of Russia.
Peter was another of the original 12 disciples, who came to Jesus with his brother Simon. He was rash and outspoken but very loyal despite denying Christ three times on the night of the crucifixion.
Peter is one of the easiest disciples to identify. Normally he is depicted as being bald on top and holds a key or keys. This is a Biblical reference to Matthew chapter 16 verse 19 where Jesus says "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
As a former fisherman, he is the patron saint of netmakers, shipbuilders, and fishermen, and, because he holds the “keys to the kingdom of heaven,” he is also the patron saint of locksmiths.
Mathias wasn't an original member of the 12 disciples. He was the replacement for Judas Iscariot after Judas had betrayed Jesus on the night of His crucifixion.
There is no mention of Mathias in any of the Gospels but according to Acts he had been a follower of Jesus for the whole length of His ministry.
Here, St Mathias is depicted holding a halberd, which fits in again with the manner of his martyrdom. History tells that he was crucified with his body then being chopped in to pieces. He is also sometimes depicted with a cross.
St Mathias is the patron saint of Alcoholics.
Matthew was an interesting choice of disciple for Jesus. He was a tax collector which would have made him unpopular with many other Jews as he would have been seen as collaborating with the occupying Roman forces. He would have been particularly unpopular with Simon the Zealot, with the Zealots as mentioned earlier wanting the removal by force of the occupying Romans.​
Of all of the disciples, Matthew is one that is hard to pick out symbolically, as there is dispute as to to how he died.
In this panel Matthew is seen carrying a pike, bit there is disagreement about the manner of his death, which is variously reported as being by burning, stoning, stabbing, or beheading. Matthew is the patron saint of tax collectors and accountants.
St James the Less
St Simon
There are a few James' here; with James The Les snot to be confused with James The Great who was one of the 12 or James the brother of Jesus who was not.
This James looks to have been the the son of Alphaeus, and his mother might have been one of the women at the foot of the cross when Christ was crucified. Lots of maybes here on this one.
Here James is seen holding a club. There is some debate as to the manner of his death. What I have seen is that he was thrown off of the wall of the temple in Jerusalem, and then stoned. He was finally clubbed to death after neither of the former worked.
He is the patron saint of, amongst others, pharmacies and dying people.
St Simon was known as Simon the Zealot. The Zealots were a revolutionary political party, whose aim was to plot against the Romans who occupied Jewish lands.
St Simon was one of the 12 Disciples; and like the others, with the exception of St John (and Judas Iscariot who was to betray Jesus) he was martyred for his belief.
Here, St Simon is depicted with a saw, this portraying the manner of his death; legend stating that he was sawn in half.
St Simon is the patron saints of couriers, tanners and sawyers
Moving outside, and the wind was gusting and rain was imminent. As I was walking towards the east of the church I disturbed a mother hen who had around a dozen chicks safely under her wings. Refusing to pose for a photograph they fled north at speed!
There are some gloriously carved 18th century gravestones to the south of the nave, featuring the deaths head; a carving of a human skull designed to remind the onlooker that Man is mortal and will die.
One of these is winged; with this symbolisibng the flight of the soul to heaven' Another has the skull set above a human bone, this being another symbol of mortality. Close by is a depiction of an hour glass, which is winged; tempus fugit, time flies. The sands of time have run out for the deceased, who in this case was a mere 17 years old and the message is clear, live a good Christian life and do not be caught lacking when your own time comes. In days where life expectancy was low, this could come sooner than you might think!
Just as this visit was over it started to rain. quite heavily and the photography was put on hold for a while. The coastliner bus came and I headed towards Wells, to get some lunch and wait for the conditions to improve. My very wet Norfolk churchcrawl continued.