At present the site is made up of the separate sections indicated by the headings of the dropdown menus above. These change from time to time as the site develops (e.g. '1931 Translation' has just become '1931 and 1938' to prepare for the arrival over the next three months of scores of pages relating to the opening of the Shrine Church in 1938).

Within these sections there are easily-defined sub-sections, but attached to them are lots more miscellaneous subjects diverting off in all directions creating an unwieldy hotch-potch of isolated pages, very loosely held together. This is a temporary nightmare for the creator, as well as for the visitor. However, the principle being followed is that if they are ready to be loaded, it is better to have the pages visible sooner rather than later. So, for example, although the Wilfred Pickles page is an isolated one at the moment, it will one day have an accessible place as part of the archives collection of press cuttings. Just to confuse matters further, some pages are constantly being added to as a section of work is completed and ready to be loaded: e.g. the Guardians' Gallery first had 27 pictures, another 26 photographs have just been made ready and are now added, and there are approximately another thirty still to come.

The 'isolated' pages often arise from enquiries (e.g. Q14: the Halifax altar; Q52: the identity of the initials under the entrance arch). Others arise as aspects of a main section (e.g. the Sunk Road seat and the Sea Cadets pages spring from the Whit Monday Pilgrimages).

The most difficult to slot in at the moment are those connected with the Shrine Church. These are in a sort of limbo waiting for the detailed pages on the construction, opening and furnishing of the Shrine Church and its chapels in 1938 and the later developments within it and around the grounds. Then, for example, the page about the Long Brown Rosary will fit easily into its right place in the sacristy. Similarly many other links can then be made across the site: e.g. Q53 on the Enquiries page about altar frontals will need only a link to the pages of Fr Patten's handwritten inventories.

As well as the Shrine Church, other pages will be devoted to the growth of the Shrine grounds and their structures (e.g. the refectories, the Stations, the Guild of All Souls Chapel). There will be more about Fr Patten and the early Guardians, and about the priests and people who played significant parts in the restoration of the Shrine and the life of the village round the Shrine in the early years. Extracts from the Friends of Walsingham Occasional Paper and the Walsingham Review will follow those of Our Lady's Mirror already on the site.

Fr Patten's lifetime is our main preoccupation, but there is no cut-off date. Where appropriate to the subject, and permissible, information is included right up the present (e.g. the Sunk Road seat).

All the above reflects the use of the archives to illustrate the Shrine's history, supplemented by research in reference books and other outside sources; but there is more to it. Behind all this is the master catalogue of the archive collection.

The archives are in the archive room, listed and boxed. As more items are deposited in the collection slight adjustments may occasionally be necessary, but the outline structure of the catalogue stays the same, and once the website pages for 1938 have been loaded, the next big task will be to put the catalogue online. From it there will be links across the site to scanned images or typed copies of all the documents and photographs that are permissible within the laws of copyright and the bounds of confidentiality.

Finally, looking back to the earliest days of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham - work is proceeding on website pages about the original shrine, where it is hoped to bring together (with permission) copies of some of the medieval documents, the work of the late John Dickinson (the greatest authority on the early shrine) and reports of the main archaeological excavations at the Priory and around the Shrine in the last two hundred years.

return to top of page :: return to The Catalogue page :: return to The Collection page :: return to Enquiries page