About this objectIn the 11th century, following her vision of the Virgin Mary and subsequent spiritual pilgrimages to the site of the Anunciation in Nazareth, Richeldis prepared the site for a replica of the Holy House to be erected in the grounds of her house in Walsingham in eastern England. But, before building started, the house miracualously appeared overnight. It became a focus for pilgrimage and a Priory was founded adjacent to it in c.1153. The site rivalled Canterbury as a focus of pilgrimage until the Reformation in 1538.
Walsingham is today a major pilgrimage site, with Roman Catholic, Anglican and Orthdox Christian shrines attracting over 250,000 visitors a year.
