St Winefride's Well ( cy, Ffynnon Wenffrewi) is a

well A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...

located in the town of Holywell,

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

, in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It claims to be the oldest continually visited pilgrimage site in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

and is a grade I listed building and scheduled ancient monument. St Winefride's well is believed to be connected to St Mary's well and chapel in

Cefn Meiriadog Cefn Meiriadog (sometimes Cefnmeriadog) is a rural community in Denbighshire, Wales, just south-west of the city of St Asaph. The boundary of the community on three sides is the river Elwy, which here forms the county boundary with Conwy County ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

. It is one of the few locations mentioned by name in the anonymous medieval alliterative poem ''

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of ...

''.

History

The healing waters are said to cause miraculous cures, with continuous reports from the early medieval period, although the association with the veneration of St. Winefride cannot be traced to before the 12th century (the 1138 transfer of her relics to

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

). In 12th-century hagiography,

Saint Winifred Saint Winifred (or Winefride; cy, Gwenffrewi; la, Wenefreda, Winifreda) was a Welsh virgin martyr of the 7th century. Her story was celebrated as early as the 8th century, but became popular in England in the 12th, when her hagiography was f ...

is a

virgin martyr The title Virgin (Latin ''Virgo'', Greek ) is an honorific bestowed on female saints and blesseds in some Christian traditions, including the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Chastity is one of the seven virtues in Christian tr ...

, beheaded by Caradoc, a local prince, after she spurned his advances. A spring rose from the ground at the spot where her head fell and she was later restored to life by her uncle, Saint

Beuno Saint Beuno ( la, Bonus;Baring-Gould & Fisher, "Lives of the British Saints" (1907), quoted a Early British Kingdoms website by David Nash Ford, accessed 6 February 2012 640), sometimes anglicized as Bono, was a 7th-century Welsh abbot, ...

.Alexander, Marc (2002) ''A Companion to the Folklore, Myths & Customs of Britain'', Sutton Publishing, pp. 264–265 The well is known as "the

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Châ ...

of Wales" and is mentioned in an old rhyme as one of the

Seven Wonders of Wales The Seven Wonders of Wales ( cy, Saith Rhyfeddod Cymru) is a traditional list of notable landmarks in north Wales, commemorated in an anonymously written rhyme: The rhyme is usually supposed to have been written sometime in the late 18th or ear ...

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...

visited the site in 1189 to pray for the success of his

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

, and

Henry V Henry V may refer to: People * Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026) * Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125) * Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161) * Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227) * Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (121 ...

was said by

Adam of Usk Adam of Usk ( cy, Adda o Frynbuga, c. 1352–1430) was a Welsh priest, canonist, and late medieval historian and chronicler. His writings were hostile to King Richard II of England. Patronage Born at Usk in what is now Monmouthshire (Sir Fynwy), ...

to have travelled there on foot from Shrewsbury in 1416. In the late 15th century,

Lady Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort (usually pronounced: or ; 31 May 1441/43 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late fifteenth century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first Tudor monarch. A descendant o ...

built a chapel overlooking the well, which now opens onto a pool where visitors may bathe. Some of the structures at the well date from the reign of

King Henry VII Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort, ...

or earlier. Later,

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

caused the shrine and saintly

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s to be destroyed, but some have been recovered to be housed at Shrewsbury and Holywell. In the 17th century, the well became known as a symbol of the survival of Catholic

recusancy Recusancy (from la, recusare, translation=to refuse) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign ...

in Wales. From early in their mission to England, the

Jesuits , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders = ...

supported the well. In 1605, many of those involved with the

Gunpowder plot The Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in earlier centuries often called the Gunpowder Treason Plot or the Jesuit Treason, was a failed assassination attempt against King James I by a group of provincial English Catholics led by Robert Catesby who sough ...

visited it with Father Edward Oldcorne to give thanks for his deliverance from cancer, or as some said, to plan the plot.Lives of the Saints
By Alban Butler, Peter Doyle, King

James II of England James VII and II (14 October 1633 16 September 1701) was King of England and King of Ireland as James II, and King of Scotland as James VII from the death of his elder brother, Charles II, on 6 February 1685. He was deposed in the Glorious Re ...

is known to have visited the well with his wife

Mary of Modena Mary of Modena ( it, Maria Beatrice Eleonora Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este; ) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James II and VII. A devout Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was then the younger ...

during 1686, after several failed attempts to produce an heir to the throne. Shortly after this visit, Mary became pregnant with a son, James. Princess Victoria, staying in Holywell with her uncle King

Leopold I of Belgium * nl, Leopold Joris Christiaan Frederik * en, Leopold George Christian Frederick , image = NICAISE Leopold ANV.jpg , caption = Portrait by Nicaise de Keyser, 1856 , reign = 21 July 1831 – , predecessor = Erasme Lou ...

, visited the Well in 1828. After the

Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 The Catholic Relief Act 1829, also known as the Catholic Emancipation Act 1829, was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1829. It was the culmination of the process of Catholic emancipation throughout the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

was enacted, the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Order encouraged a renaissance of the pilgrimage to the Well. The stonework of the chapel is covered with hundreds of

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

, the initials of grateful pilgrims. Some inscriptions testify to cures received there. In January 1917 the ''North Wales Chronicle and Advertiser'' reported that the spring's flow had ceased. The Well gardens were acquired in 1930 following the removal of the former St Winefride's Brewery.

Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester Birgitte, Duchess of Gloucester, (born Birgitte Eva van Deurs Henriksen; 20 June 1946) is a Danish member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a grandson of George V. They have three children. E ...

, visited the well in 2005. In July 2021

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

visited the well.

Gallery

File:St Winifreds Well by J Ingleby.jpg, Interior of St Winifreds Well c. 1781 File:St. Winifred's Well, Holywell (1133360).jpg, Interior of St. Winifred's Well, 1813 Image:Holywell1.JPG, View from the entrance to the site Image:Holywell3.JPG, The source of the water Image:Holywell4.JPG, Hand-pump by the bathing pool, providing drinkable water from the source Image:Holywell5.JPG, Inscription left by someone who was cured Image:Holywell6.JPG, Decoration at the top of a pillar showing man carrying a disabled companion Image:Holywell7.JPG, Candles burning in front of a statue of St Winefride

Modern day

The creation of the Milwr mine drainage tunnel caused the well to run dry when tunnelling work broke into a flooded cavern for which the well was the main resurgence. To maintain a supply of water at the well which was used by local industries, water was subsequently pumped from a nearby lead mine. During early 2019 the water flow of the spring was interrupted due to repair work. The Shrine and Well are administered by Holywell Parish on behalf of the Catholic diocese of Wrexham. The adjacent Visitor Centre is the entrance to the Well. Bathing takes place in the exterior pool only.

References

External links

St Winefride's Well
– official site

St Winefride's Holy Well

* Notes on the site'

featuring heaped pilgrims' crutches left behind after miraculous cures {{Diocese of Wrexham Buildings and structures in Flintshire Winefride's Well, St Catholic pilgrimage sites Springs of Wales Bodies of water of Flintshire Tourist attractions in Flintshire Museums in Flintshire Religious museums in Wales Landmarks in Wales Grade I listed buildings in Flintshire Catholic Church in Wales Roman Catholic shrines in the United Kingdom Mary of Modena

History

Gallery

Modern day

See also

References

Further reading

External links