The Walsingham Way: England's ancient pilgrimage

"When England returns to Walsingham, Our Lady will return to England" - Pope Leo XIII.

To all appearances, Walsingham is no different from any other out-of-the-way English country town: cobbled streets, whitewashed buildings, no supermarket, and temperamental wi-fi coverage. Why, then, do Christian pilgrims still come there, as they have for nearly a thousand years? And why would a young Australian don a backpack and hiking boots and travel to the other side of the world to follow in their footsteps?

From King's Lynn through the Sandringham woods, via a ruined castle, an Anglo-Saxon burial mound, nettle-choked lanes and a host of tiny country churches that gave shelter from the changing weather; Penny Renner recounts her four-day walking pilgrimage across Norfolk to the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham.

Built in the year 1061 after the Blessed Virgin appeared to a local noblewoman in a dream, the shrine was torn down during the Reformation and re-built in the early twentieth century. The quiet country town that houses it has been a site of both religious conflict and profound devotion for centuries. Join Penny for an evening as she tells its story, and hers.

Full event details are in this flyer. Please feel free to download and distribute it.

Date: 
2 October 2017
Time: 
6 for 6:30
Location: 
Caroline Chisholm Library Level 3, 358 Lonsdale St Melbourne (near Elizabeth St)
Contact: 
03 9670 1815
Cost: 
By donation