Our Lady of Ipswich

[2] 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.

John Howard was of royal descendant and at least by 1470 a wealthy man, a grandson of Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk.

After the Tudor dynasty had consolidated its hold on the English throne, Henry VII's queen, Elizabeth of York, made a donation in 1502 of half a golden angel (3s 4d) to the shrine.

[5] The image of the Virgin at Ipswich became celebrated on account of a miraculous power of healing attributed to Our Lady of Grace in the early 16th century.

[1] The miracle at the shrine of Our Lady of Ipswich is recorded by Sir Thomas More in his book The Supplication of Souls, and he claimed he had news of it from a direct witness.

Anne suffered from seizures in which she spasmed, blasphemed and was said to be able to utter prophesy "vexed and tourmented by our gostly enemye the devyll".

Radiocarbon dating places the era when the tree was felled to provide the wood of which the statue is carved at circa 1280 to 1420 with 94% certainty.

Even more striking, when Martin Gillett first examined the statue in 1938, it was wearing two half shoes made of English silver, just like those described by Thomas Cromwell's steward 400 years before.

[4] A scientific analysis of a sliver of wood from the base of the statue has been found to have a high salt content – suggesting that it had at some point been in contact with seawater or sea spray.

As part of the Nettuno celebrations, thousands watch as the statue is taken down from high above the altar in the Basilica and, dressed in her finery, is taken in a grand procession through the streets for a week-long stay at the church of St Giovanni.

[4] A replica of the statue was presented to Pope Benedict XVI in Rome on 5 May 2010, during the week of the Shrine's feast, beginning the first Sunday of May.

On 10 September 2002 a wooden replica of the Italian statue, carved by sculptor Robert Mellamphy,[11] was blessed and installed by the Anglican Bishop of Richborough in the church of St Mary at the Elms.

[8] In 2022 the Catholic parish of St Pancras in Ipswich, commissioned the Stuflesser studio in northern Italy, to produce a replica of the statue in Nettuno.