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Wales
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| North
Wales & Borders |
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St.
Winefride's Well
 There's
an atmosphere of peace in this place-a place of pilgrimage for 1300
years. A place where people come in faith to ask for God's favors. This
is St. Winefride's Well. This holy place began with a legend. In 660AD
the town of Holywell, located in northern Wales, was a cluster of huts
centered around a church. Caradoc, the son of a prince living in the
area, pursued Winefride, the daughter of a local prince. Refusing to
marry him, she sought sanctuary in the church, but, before she reached
it, Caradoc caught her. Angry at her refusal to marry him, he beheaded
her.
It is
said a spring of water rose where Winefride's severed head came to rest,
a spring with healing powers. St. Winefride's uncle placed her head
next to her body. He then prayed over her, and she rose to her feet,
head attached, became a nun and was eventually made Abbess of a convent.
She died 15 years later.
 As
the fame of the well's healing power spread, pilgrims journeyed to the
spring to pray for healing, passing through the cold, clear, bluish
water three times. Walking down limestone steps, they kneeled and kissed
a stone cross. An ancient carving of one pilgrim carrying another is
etched into the worn stone.
Royalty
visited the site. Henry V, who relied on the Saint's aid at the battle
of Agincourt in 1415, made a pilgrimage of thanksgiving to the well
the year following his victory. In the 15th century, Lady Margaret,
Countess of Richmond, and the mother of Henry VII, commissioned an elaborate
arched crypt to be built above the spring. Emblems of the family are
found in the stained glass. Carvings of St. Winefride and her legend
adorn the weathered stone. High in the crypt ceiling St. Winefride is
seated with a staff in her hand and a crown over her head.
Five hundred
years of graffiti on the walls of the crypt attest to the years of unbroken
faith in the well's healing powers. Thousands of visitors continue to
come today. Candles of hope still shine. St. Winefride's Well is a place
of pilgrimage, the Lourdes of Wales.
Note: The
legend of St. Winefride is the basis for Ellis Peter's, "A Morbid Taste
for Bones", the first book in her Brother Cadfael mystery series.
St. Winefride's
Well
Holywell
off the A55, B5121
Tel. 0352 713054 for hours
Text
and Photos © 2001 Barbara Ballard
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