Mgr John Armitage is a thoroughly East End priest. He grew up there; he has served its parishes for more than 30 years. So his appointment as rector of Walsingham, deep in the Norfolk countryside, was met with disbelief. Friends couldn’t believe he was leaving London. “Neither could I,” says Armitage ruefully. It was a “great wrench”, he says. He arrived in Walsingham on his 60th birthday. “All my plans for my birthday party were shot to pieces.”
There was good reason for the appointment. Armitage has a track record in building institutions and the bishops wanted someone who could develop England’s national Marian shrine. From 1968 until 2014, it had been run by the Marists. Developing the place had not been a priority. Walsingham receives pilgrimage groups of up to 20,000 in size, but its tearooms seat 30, the church just a few hundred. If it rains, everyone gets soaked, as there is no shelter. An information centre makes do in a Portakabin in the car park.
