Our Lady's Mirror

Summer 1935

The Holy House from inside the Church
More pilgrims and visitors than ever have been coming to the Shrine this year, and the restricted accommodation in the outer Church has become a serious drawback when a large number comes. Somehow or other we must extend the present building or fasten three or four bays to the “East” and so make it possible for a modicum of comfort. The Architects, Messrs. Milner & Craze, have drawn out plans for this extension, and we now want some kind friend or friends who have a real love for Our Lady and her National Shrine to come forward and give, or even loan, the necessary money. The Romans, too, have been active and their pilgrimages to the Slipper Chapel are very frequent; they have opened a Chapel in the village, in addition to the Slipper Chapel. One supposes the conditions are not unlike those in the Holy Land, where the Orthodox and the Latins, the Armenians and other Easterns, all claim the Holy Sites and live together, treading on each other’s toes more or less frequently! A delightful old house – the Martyr House – used until recently as the Post Office, has been purchased by a pilgrim, and is being adapted. The ground floor is to be a Restaurant and tea-room, with gardens and a Pilgrims’ rest room, and the other two floors are to be let as flats, with a small private garden attached for the residents. There will also be a garage. The ancient arrow token of the Walsingham pilgrim has been restruck and is now on sale at the Sanctuary. It is a charming souvenir of the Holy House, in the form of an arrow with a minute representation of the Annunciation in a circle. Miss Muriel Lloyd has resigned her secretaryship of the Society of Our Lady of Walsingham after many years of very faithful and devoted work. article: 'A Roman Catholic appreciation of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham' quoted from the Westminster Cathedral Chronicle, July 1935 There are no illustrations in this issue: one of Enid Chadwick's drawings is shown above (Holy House from inside the church)