Walsingham

Sir William Milner and Walsingham

Sir William Milner was a devout Anglo-Catholic within the Church of England and greatly involved in the restoration of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham in Norfolk, which now attracts many pilgrims each year. In 1938 he gave land for the new Shrine Church to be built there, the architect being Romily Craze who also played a significant part in the creation of Parcevall. Sir William became one of the first members of the College of Guardians of the Shrine and in 1955 set up Walsingham College (Yorkshire Properties) Ltd.

Several years before his death he bequeathed the Parcevall Estate to the College of Guardians of the Shrine and they hold it in trust and administer it. In 2008 a new wing to the Shrine’s Pilgrim Hospice was opened at Walsingham and was dedicated ‘The Milner Wing’ in memory of and to honour Sir William. He is remembered with admiration for his skills and creative genius, and with gratitude for his life and ‘his kind, generous and humble Christianity’. Sir William Milner is buried in the churchyard at nearby Burnsall.