Home \ Prep \ RS \ Trips And Events

Yr 6 Trip To Walsingham

The children in Year Six recently visited the Christian pilgrimage site of Walsingham, in North Norfolk, to visit and explore different Christian denominations.  The children have been studying Christianity as a modern world religion.

This is what the children had to say about their trip:

When we arrived in Walsingham we went to a room with our guide, John.  He gave us a sheet on what we were doing. When we were looking at our sheet John went to get Father Philip. We then went and had a look at the Methodist, Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. My favourite one was the Roman Catholic Church.  Will

My favourite church was the Pilgrim Church because it was big and even though it was big it was still very warm inside. There were candles everywhere and it was dark.  Behind where we sat was the Holy House and we got to light a candle but we had to make a donation so they could afford to buy more candles for the Pilgrims.  When we lit our candle we had to think of someone we love or someone who is hurt.  Charlie

I liked the holy house so much because of how peaceful and calm it was compared to the other churches.  I really thought that it would be huge but it was kind of small on in the inside.  We were allowed to light a candle but we had to give a donation before we could light them. That was the best part of the day along with lunch.  On the outside there were stones from different cathedrals and monasteries to remind them of the time when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries.  Flo

The Pilgrim church inspired me because it was so much more original than the others.  I thought the outside was excellent on its own but when you walked in you couldn’t take it all in at once because of all the stunning objects in the church. We went inside the church to see the Holy House, it was a little cramped but it was very beautiful. There was an inspiring idea that you light a candle in there and you pray for a sick relative. In the church were large golden candlesticks.  Later on a monk came to talk to us about his lifestyle and what he does throughout the day. He said that he gets up at half five in the morning and goes to bed at about half nine in the night unless there is a service. He said that he gets some days off and he goes into town with his fellow brothers. I thought it was a bit on the cold side and I didn’t expect it to be so big. The church itself was very comforting and it had lots of decorations in it.  Joshua

We went to four churches but my favourite was the Roman Catholic one because it was modern and it had the crown of thorns hanging from the ceiling.  By the door there was some water in a bowl and that is for when people come in, they put their hand in and do the sign of the cross on their body. The shape of the church from the outside was round but when you got inside it was square.  The church was very bright and modern.  The stained glass windows inside were very narrow.  This church was my favourite because everything was mostly made of wood and it felt homely to me.  Ellie

We saw four churches but my favourite church was the Roman Catholic Church.  It was very modern, built in 2006.  Inside it was made out of wood and had four big posts that covered the ceiling.  As you came in you saw three bottles of holy oil. One was green, the other was pink and the other was yellow, they were next to the font.  The font had a big glass bowl at the bottom; it had a mixture of colours such as blue, purple and green. There was a raised platform with the altar on it at the front of the church; behind it was a big stained glass window.  It had a big picture of Jesus on the cross and a fish behind it to represent his disciples because some of them were fisherman. It had an organ on a platform at the back of the church which was also made out of wood.  They had the fourteen Stations of the Cross on the back wall.  Millie

In the Roman Catholic Church we sat on these lovely oak pew seats. We sat down quietly and looked around the church. There were lots of interesting artefacts inside.  There was a stained glass window and it had a Christian symbol on it and it had a model of Jesus being hung on the cross. It looked a bit scary in a way because all of his features made him look so real.  The ceiling was very high. We saw the 14 Stations of the Cross; one of them was particularly horrid because you saw Jesus being nailed to the cross.  Rebecca

There was one thing that inspired me in the Roman Catholic Church and that was a candle holder. It was in the shape of a heart because you put a candle on it when a loved one dies or if they are ill and you could also put some flowers or pictures of them next to it. We saw a picture of Madeline McCann which really made me think about her. Libby

My favourite one was the Orthodox Church.  It used to be an old railway station building.  The St Seraphim Russian Orthodox Church was very small but was really warm and had lots of icons in it.  Charles

Inside the Russian Orthodox Church half of the room is hidden and only the priest can see the altar. They say it is like this because when you go to heaven you can see it. When you are a normal person you can’t see heaven, like you can’t see the altar.  Nick

In the Methodist church there was an upstairs where there were a lot more pews.  Downstairs there was a very small font; they did not want it to take up too much space.  Tom

The Methodist Church was a lovely size for praying to God. It had a raised platform behind the altar where the people who read from the Holy Bible could see everyone around in the church, rich and poor. That is why I liked it because everyone is just as important as everyone. I also liked going upstairs were you could see the altar and the organ that was all made of wood and looked amazing. There was a story that I thought was quite amusing it was about a boy who was pumping air into the organ to make the sound and he fell asleep so the organist could not play his hymns.  There was also a stove to keep the building warm.  Oliver

Thank you to Maureen Howard and John Evans from the Walsingham Education Office, to Brother Paschal, Father Philip and everyone else we encountered for making our day such an enjoyable one.  
Mr. S. B. Coulthart