‘MIRACLE’ BUILD

A 1496 text, named The Pynson Ballad after its printer, Richard Pynson, tells one story of the origin of the Holy House. It begins in 1061, when Richeldis de Faverches, a devout noblewoman, received three visions of the Virgin Mary. She was shown the House of the Annunciation in Nazareth, where Mary was informed by the Angel Gabriel that she would give birth to the baby Jesus. Richeldis was told to take the measurements of the house and build a replica in Walsingham, promising that “all that seek me there shall be given succour”. The ballad tells that construction was not straightforward, and after struggling to fit the pieces together, the builders came to Richeldis in despair. The noblewoman spent all night in prayer, and in the morning, the wooden chapel was discovered miraculously and perfectly constructed. Some historians, however, posit the real date of its origin as circa 1130.