THE P RTAL
December 2017 Page 19
The Shrine of Our Lady of Caversham
A little known shrine of Our Lady is explored by Thomas Prince
‘
I have also pulled down the place where she stood in with all other ceremonies … and have defaced the same thoroughly as eschewing any further resort thither ’ – Dr John London , 17 th September 1538 .
Familiar though similar accounts are , this letter was not sent from England ’ s Nazareth : that image of Our Lady had been languishing in Lambeth since July of the same year . This letter was sent from the town of Reading , and reports on the destruction of the far less famous shrine to Our Lady of Caversham , then an Oxfordshire village , now a suburb of Reading .
The analogies , however , between the shrines run further than the tales of their destruction . Both shrines are ancient , and although there is no surviving story of the inception of Caversham ’ s shrine it may well have been established in the second half of the 11 th century . Both shrines were re-established in the twentieth century , though neither on their original sites , and in 2016 both sites were designated a ‘ door of mercy ’ in the year of the Extraordinary Jubilee .
I should not get too far ahead of myself however : even in the sixteenth century the status of the shrine had waned and was certainly no rival to Walsingham . The shrine ’ s heyday had come during the reign of Henry III who made considerable benefaction to the shrine , including the wood to establish a ferry across the Thames , a red velvet chasuble , and 1500 tapers ( Walsingham received 3000 tapers in that year ). Since that time , the shrine dwindled in significance , although it was bequeathed a crown of gold weighing twenty-five pounds by the countess of Warwick 1439 .
But the Caversham shrine has an important advantage to us over its Norfolk cousin ; it might be called its ‘ ridiculousness ’. To Reading ’ s denizens today the idea of ‘ Our Lady of Caversham ’ sounds as preposterous as an ‘ Our Lady of Swindon ’ or ‘ Our Lady of Surbiton ’. We are , of course , much more accustomed to remote or otherworldly shrines : Fatima , Lourdes , Guadeloupe , or indeed Walsingham .
Suburban shrines – even those not associated with a manifestation – are shrines in places where people actually live , and offer a rare immediate connection between urban Britain and its ancient past . After all , it is one thing to think that Queen Catherine of Aragon
visited Caversham , but another to realise she went with the same intention as pilgrims to Caversham ’ s shrine today .
As in other places , devotion to Our Lady of Caversham slept until the period following the establishment of Catholic parishes in the late 19 th Century . Indeed , it was not until the Marian year of 1954-55 that the idea for a new shrine took shape . Under the guidance of the parish priest , Fr William O ’ Malley , the shrine was opened officially in 1959 by Archbishop Francis Grimshaw of Birmingham , complete with a 500 year old wooden statue of Our Lady carved from oak and believed to originate in Northern Europe , still resident in the shrine . In keeping with its medieval predecessor that statue was crowned , with a crown of silver and gold , by the Papal Nuncio , Archbishop Barbarito , in 1996 .
Today the shrine continues to evolve - and even in the last few months has been the subject of substantial restoration and redecoration under the direction of Fr Paul Martin . It is hoped that it continues to grow , attract pilgrims , and remind those who visit that the ancient devotions of the English Church are not only to be found in its abbeys and Norfolk villages , but may also be found just down the road .
Our Lady of Caversham , pray for us .