Wyllow was a Cornish

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

whose existence was reported by

William Worcester William Worcester (c. 1415 – c. 1482) was an English antiquary, author, and historian known for his detailed writings on medieval England. He served as the secretary to Sir John Fastolf, a prominent military commander during the Hundred Year ...

. He was said to have been born in Ireland but worked in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. He was reputedly

behead Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...

ed by Melyn ys Kynrede ("Melyn's kinfolk") in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Lanteglos, near

Fowey Fowey ( ; , meaning ''beech trees'') is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, ...

. Supposedly, he then carried his head for half a

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a imperial unit, British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of Unit of length, le ...

to St Willow's Bridge, where a church was later built in his honour. Nicholas Roscarrock gives his

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

as 3 June. He is still commemorated in

, with the 15th century St. Wyllow's

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

. built by Thomas Mohun at

Lanteglos-by-Fowey Lanteglos (, meaning ''church valley'') is a coastal civil parishes in England, civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the east side of the tidal estuary of the River Fowey which separates it from the town and civil pa ...

. He is also known as Vylloc and his dates of birth and death are unknown, though it is likely that he lived in the 6th century. St. Willow is regarded as the

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, art patronage refers to the support that princes, popes, and other wealthy and influential people ...

of Lanteglos.The Celtic Christianity of Cornwall: Divers Sketches and Studies; by Thomas Taylor
(Longmans, Green and Co.. 1916)

References

6th-century Christian martyrs 6th-century executions Medieval Irish saints of Cornwall Cephalophores 6th-century Irish people Medieval Cornish saints Irish expatriates in England Irish people executed abroad Executed Cornish people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown English hermits {{Cornwall-stub

See also

References