The Pump, Little Walsingham

We went to visit my cousin Ella, and Harry, and their two sons over in Walsingham and went for a good walk on a converted railway line and local footpaths, then home for lunch. A really enjoyable afternoon.

Our walk took us through Little Walsingham and past this pump. The village is famous for its shrines in honour of the Virgin Mary. It is said that a pious local woman had a vision in 1061 AD in which she was instructed to build a replica of the holy house in Nazareth and it subsequently became a major place of pilgrimage. Later an Augustinian Priory was built in Walsingham.
All of this came to an abrupt end in 1538 when on the orders of Henry 8th, the Sub Prior was hanged on the basis of dubious evidence, various other Catholic personnel were hanged, drawn and quartered in the Martyr's Field and the Priory dissolved and destroyed. 
Monastic stone and brick was used to build the well which supplied water to a large part of the village. The well house originally had a slender pinnacle which got knocked off in 1900 during rowdy celebrations for a British victory at the Battle of Mafeking during the Boer War. More recently this was replaced with a brazier in which a fire is lit to celebrate major public events.