Our Lady of Ipswich (also known as Our Lady of Grace) was a popular English Marian shrine before the English Reformation. Among Marian shrines, only the shrine at Walsingham attracted more visitors. Background For centuries, England has been known as 'Our Lady's Dowry'. Anglo-Saxon England sheltered many shrines to the Virgin Mary: shrines were dedicated to her at Glastonbury in 540, Evesham in 702, Tewkesbury in 715, Canterbury in 866, Willesden in 939, Abingdon before 955, Ely in 1020, Coventry in 1043, York in 1050, and Walsingham in 1061. By the High Middle Ages there were sixteen shrines to Mary in Suffolk alone. About half of the medieval churches in Suffolk were dedicated to St Mary under a particular title or devotion. Churches not dedicated to Mary, would have contained a Marian shrine, generally at the east end of the south aisle. Some shrines became so popular that they were translated to buildings of their own. This may be how the shrine of Our Lady of Grace came to be. During the High Middle Ages, the shrine of Our Lady of Grace was second only to that of Our Lady of Walsingham. History The medieval town of Ipswich was a busy maritime centre of trade and shipbuilding. The inns and taverns of the town were full of pilgrims. The shrine to Our Lady of Grace at Ipswich is first recorded in 1152. The shrine of Our Lady of Grace in Lady Lane was just outside the west gate of the medieval town wall of Ipswich, on Lady Lane near St Mary the Elm Church. The site is marked by a plaque and a statue of Our Lady . In 1297 the daughter of Edward I, Princess Elizabeth, married the Count of Holland at the shrine. Among surviving mentions, it is recorded that Sir John Howard paid a visit in August 1463, when his main residence was at Stoke-by-Nayland. On that occasion he apparently left an offering of 2d. At a visit on 5 May, the now Lord Howard spent a total of 10s on a pilgrimage to the shrine. At a visit on 22 January 1472 he left 10d. John Howard was of royal descendant and at least by 1470 an extremely wealthy man, a grandson of Thomas de Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk from 1397. Howard had shown himself a close friend and loyal supporter of the King Richard III.