  walsingham is a village (actually two conjoined villages: little walsingham and great walsingham) in the english county of norfolk. the village is famed for its religious shrines in honour of the virgin mary and as a major pilgrimage centre. it also contains the ruins of two medieval monastic houses.ordnance survey (2002). os explorer map 251 - norfolk coast central. isbn 0-319-21887-2. the civil parish, which includes the two walsinghams, together with the depopulated medieval village of egmere (), has an area of 18.98 kmÂ² and in the 2001 census had a population of 864 in 397 households. for the purposes of local government the parish falls within the district of north norfolk.office for national statistics & norfolk county council (2001). census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes. retrieved december 2, 2005. walsingham became a major centre of pilgrimage. in 1061, according to the walsingham legend, a saxon noblewoman, richeldis de faverches, had a vision of the virgin mary in which she was instructed to build a replica of the house of the holy family in nazareth in honour of the annunciation. her family name does not appear in the domesday book. when it was built the holy house, in walsingham was panelled with wood and contained a wooden statue of an enthroned virgin mary with the child jesus seated on her lap. among its relics was a phial of the virgin's milk. walsingham became one of northern europe's great places of pilgrimage and remained so through most of the middle ages. ==priory==   a priory of canons regular was established on the site in 1153, a few miles from the sea in the northern part of norfolk and it grew in importance over the following centuries. founded in the time of edward the confessor, the chapel of our lady of walsingham was confirmed to the augustinian canons a century later
1153_establishments Anglo-Catholicism Christian_pilgrimages Civil_parishes_in_Norfolk Marian_shrines Monasteries_in_Norfolk North_Norfolk Post_towns_in_the_NR_postcode_area Villages_in_Norfolk