The churches and chapels of Walsingham: 5, the Barn Chapel

Inside the Barn Chapel, with an icon of the Visitation of Abraham behind the altar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

Patrick Comerford

During my visit to Walsingham last week, when I was invited to speak at the Ecumenical Pilgrimage, I visited about a dozen churches and chapels in Walsingham, including two visits to Saint Mary and All Saints’ Church, the Church of England parish church in the small Norfolk village, the Shrine Church, where much of our worship took place during those days, and the Holy House.

The Anglican Shrine in Walsingham has other chapels and altars, including the Chantry Chapel of Saint Michael and the Holy Souls and the Barn Chapel, and the Garden Altar or ‘The Altar of the Mysteries of Light’ which creates an open-air chapel in the gardens.

The Barn Chapel is one of two buildings in the shrine grounds that were restored and refurbished when the new refectory and café-bar were being developed in 1999-2000. Until then, it had been a derelict medieval barn on the shrine site’s northern boundary in Guild Street.

The small chapel was created in 2024 as a space for pilgrim groups to use. Gradually, with a specially made altar and lectern, a beautiful icon of the Visitation of Abraham on the wall behind the altar and a stunning piece of modern sculpture by David Begbie of the Crucifix in metal and wire hanging from the ceiling.

The chapel was restored with financial support from the Society for the Maintenance of the Faith, the trustees of Ascot Priory, Chichester Theological Trust, the Saint Mary’s Charity, the Garfield Weston Foundation and the Benefact Trust.

The steel sculpture Crucifix, created by the sculptor David Begbie for Lent 1988 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)

The steel sculpture Crucifix was created by the London-based sculptor David Begbie for Winchester Cathedral for Lent in 1988 and was given to the shrine in 2004. The arresting figure of Christ has no hands, recalling the prayer of Saint Teresa of Avila: ‘Christ has no hands but our hands’.

The figure of Christ with no hands is also an expression of helplessness – a man at the mercy of his destiny. This is further compounded by the body being that of a strong powerful man, naked and in the throes of agony and humiliation. The head of Christ remains unformed; it is defaced and finally humiliated with its barbed crown made from one of the most offensive materials ever: barbed wire. It is a Christ for our time.

Since it opened, the Barn Chapel has become a greatly loved place of worship. An organ was added in 2007 and was the gift of a pilgrim.

The Barn Chapel has become a greatly loved place of worship (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2026)