Our Lady of Walsingham ampulla

Ampulla (small bottle for holy water), possibly from the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham at Walsingham Priory. This ampulla is decorated with a scallop shell design and has a crowned ‘W’ on one side. By the 14th century the miracle-working statue of the Virgin Mary at Walsingham was thought of as the Queen of Walsingham as well as the Queen of Heaven. The crowned ‘W’ on this ampulla may be a reference to this concept. The shrine had a well containing water with special properties – there is a record of a boy who fell into the well and seemed to have died but was brought miraculously back to life by the Virgin. Water from the well would have been put into ampullae like this one and sold to pilgrims to cure their health problems.

The shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk was a popular pilgrimage destination in the medieval period, especially after Henry III made a series of pilgrimages there in the 13th century. The scallop was essentially the emblem of the apostle St James the Greater, but through the twelfth century became a generic emblem of pilgrimage.