The Lost Cathedral Village - Walsingham Abbey, Norfolk

[@markharrison3445]

Thank you for this lovely and informative video. I am an American who has discovered his English ancestors. One in particular, Bartholomew Burghersh (22nd great grandfather), died in 1369 and was buried at this abbey. I assume his tomb was desecrated during the Dissolution.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Oh how lovely! I do get quite a few American viewers who have been tracing their ancestry, I love that! Chances are, your ancestors grave may have been reburied at the nearby St. Mary's & All Saints church, but would be almost impossible to know for sure I'm afraid!

[@mudfacegirlhistoryhuntings6866]

I enjoyed watching that. How special to have a piece of the tree in your collection, that is great. Walsingham has had more Kings and Queens visit , than any other English village has ever had. A great claim to fame for such a rural Norfolk settlement. Thanks for the video

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Yeah I'm currently trying to compare Walsingham with similar monastic/holy sites across England to see why Walsingham was continuously so popular with the Royals. Other than the Virgin Mary history I can't seem to find much!

[@xZACHEDELICx]

Traced my lineage back to Richard Vowell, the last Prior, which lead me to your video. Appreciate the information!

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Ayy very good, well I'm glad you enjoyed!

[@michaelgoodliffe4795]

Did you manage to visit the friary?

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

It's on private ground now unfortunately! You can see it from a nearby road but can't walk around it which is a real shame as it looks so interesting

[@robertwright8067]

You might want to do a follow up. Although the magnificent Abbey still lies in ruins, Pilgrimage to Walsingham was revived in the early 20th Century by Anglicans, and Roman Catholics. Check this video for snapshot of the 2024 pilgrimage - I was there, a few thousand people, hundreds of priests - one of them is me! The Anglican Shrine, opposite the Abbey, was built in the 1930s, and at is heart is a reconstructed Holy House of Our Lady of Walsingham. The Roman Catholic Shrine is the Slipper Chapel, a mile outside the village. May the prayers of Blessed Mary the Mother of God, Our Lady of Walsingham, bring unity for the Church, the conversion of England, restoration of the sick, consolation for the afflicted, repentance of sinners, peace to the departed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mnbMfWSCqbxmaLs

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

Hi there - thanks for the video. I'm a local to Walsingham so I'm aware of it's status as a popular pilgrimage site (the village makes that pretty obvious to anyone anyway haha!) I rarely discuss history post-1500AD since I just find it all quite depressing and not particularly interesting, so I only get joy from researching the earlier history :)

[@marykatherinegoode2773]

Point of order: it wasn’t St. Mary who was/is venerated at Walsingham, but rather, the mother of Jesus. St. Mary is a whole other person.

[@AlexTheHistoryGuy]

I thought it's the same person?

[@marykatherinegoode2773]

@ Definitely not. Am education, if I may: St. Mary most often refers to Mary MAGDALENE, prominent a follower of Christ albeit not one of the Twelve apostles (those were all men.) The Catholic Church sees Christ's mother in a league of her own and this is why the world over she is called “ Our Lady”- Notre Dame in Paris is named for her, Our Lady of Walsingham is also hers, and actually the city of Los Angeles is named after her: the full name lf the city was “El pueblo de Muestra Señora de LOS ÁNGLES. SAs you can imagine, it was hard to fit all that on a post card. So is the fact that L. A. was founded by Franciscan monks and the little church is still there in the downtown neighborhood of the city, the oldest part. Our Lady of Walsingham long predates Henry VIII. The Benedictines who built her would have sung her praises regularly. She is the greatest of all, though not Christ's equal, she is man's intercessor. The statue from Walsingham that was burned was a statue of the Madonna and child, a popular subject of Catholicism that goes back to the dark ages.