August 12, 2003
by Matthew Davies

In a poll that attracted thousands of votes on the BBC's website and by post, Walsingham, in North Norfolk, England, has been voted the nation's favourite spiritual place. More than a quarter of a million Christians travel to Walsingham each year where Richeldis, an Anglo-Saxon noblewoman, is said to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1061. The vision inspired her to create a replica of the Holy House of the Annunciation.

Today, nothing exists of the House that Richeldis built but the Slipper Chapel remained and was restored at the end of the 19th century.

Walsingham has been a place of pilgrimage for Roman Catholics since medieval times, when travel to Rome and Compostella was virtually impossible. In 1931 the local Anglican vicar established a new Holy House, which was expanded later in the decade to form the Anglican Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham.

Christians see pilgrimage as being symbolic of their spiritual journey, coming from God and returning to God. For many it represents the journey of the Christian life from earth to heaven.

The Revd Philip North, priest administrator of the Anglican Shrine, said, "[Walsingham] is a beautiful place but, above all, it is a place of intense prayer. Here...people can leave their pain and be assured that God is with them through it."

The top ten spiritual places in the BBC's poll are: 1. Walsingham; 2. Iona, Scotland; 3. Avebury; 4. Shrine of St Alban; 5. Durham Cathedral; 6. Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland; 7. Lee Abbey, Devon; 8. St David's Cathedral, Wales; 9. St Peter's, Bradwell, Essex; 10. Twyford Down.

Further information about the BBC's poll to find the UK 's favourite spiritual place can be found at: www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/sunday/features/spiritual.

The Walsingham web site is: www.walsingham.org.uk.

Anglican Communion News Service