THE
P RTAL
Advent Supplement
Page i
Advent Supplement
Around Walsingham
Our Lady Red Mount
by Eliza Treblecock
In medieval
days, when England was a truly Catholic country, people went on pilgrimage to
Walsingham in their thousands. Of course in those days, they travelled on foot or, if wealthy, on horseback
or by carriage.
wayside chapels
The roads to Walsingham were
dotted with wayside chapels
for these pilgrims. They would
stop, pray and rest awhile. Most
have long since disappeared,
but at least two, possibly three,
remain. It is just possible that
the shrine of Our Lady of
Egmanton in Nottinghamshire
was one such stopping place. Of
course the Slipper Chapel was
the final one.
unusual structure
In a park in King’s Lynn stands
a most unusual structure. It
is the chapel of Our Lady Red
Mount and was one of these
wayside chapels for the use of pilgrims going to
Walsingham.
Alison from the local Tourist Board arranged for T he
P ortal to visit. Normally the Chapel is open only on
Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays in season from 12
noon until 3pm. We are grateful to her for arranging
the visit, and for accompanying T he P ortal on that visit.
The Walks
The Chapel is in the park called “The Walks” and is
some distance behind the church of Saint John which
stands on the edge of the park.
Built almost all in one go
Sir Nikolaus Pevsner describes the chapel of Our
Lady Red Mount as one of the strangest Gothic
churches in England. Pevsner is not far wrong. Built
almost all in one go in 1485 by Robert Corraunce, on
instructions from the prior of Lynn, it is octagonal, and
has three storeys. The buttresses have holes in them
that form niches, and there are
further niches in several of the
faces. The top storey is made of
stone, and was probably added
about twenty years later.
two staircases
Each floor has an open space
with two staircases around the
outside. One is for ascending, the
other for descending. This bears
testimony to the vast number of
visitors it attracted in its heyday.
The chapel once held the head
of Saint Margaret, and attracted
visitors in its own right.
many stories
As one would expect with
such an ancient building, there are many stories
associated with it. One is that there is a tunnel from
the Chapel to Castle Rising; a distance of some four
miles. This is said to have been built to allow Princess
Isobela to worship at the chapel.
Another tells of a “fiddler” who decided to explore
the said tunnel. He entered it with his dog and neither
fiddler nor dog was ever seen again.
centre of medieval industrial England
In medieval times King’s Lynn was one of England’s
most important ports. Indeed Norfolk was the centre
of medieval industrial England. As such, King’s Lynn,
or Lynn as the locals call it, had four Religious Houses.
There were Augustinians, Dominicans, Franciscans,
and Carmelites in the town before the Reformation.
The remains of some of these are still visible today,
although much has been lost. One tower remains - it
is just by the Police Station - because it was used as a
signal for shipping, and that could not be lost!