THE
P RTAL
Advent Supplement
Page iv
The Slipper Chapel
by Eliza Treblecock
The tiny hamlet of Houghton-le-Dale, set in fields on the outskirts of Little Walsingham, seems remote
enough today. It must have seemed more so until recent decades brought paved roads and electricity. Lonely
and on the outskirts of the hamlet, beside the bubbling River Stiffkey, is a pretty little 14th century building,
entirely at home in this landscape.
Saint Catherine of Alexandria
The Slipper Chapel was built in the mid-14th century,
in 1325 to be precise, and dedicated to Saint Catherine
of Alexandria. It served pilgrims on their way to
England’s Nazareth. It was the last and most important
of the wayside chapels on the numerous pilgrim routes
to the pre-reformation shrine in Walsingham. Pilgrims
would stop, go to Mass and confess their sins, before
slipping off their shoes and walking the final Holy Mile
to the Holy House in Walsingham. Saint Catherine
was the patron saint of pilgrims to
the Holy Land and her knights kept
open the road to Nazareth during
the Crusades.
Shrine was re-consecrated by
Bishop Youens of Northampton.
Chapel Imagery
holy ground
As well