Visiting my brother recently in Altrincham, Cheshire, I idly wondered how far away St Winefride’s Well might be as it is on the bucket list. I was delighted and surprised to find it was only 50 minutes away and we decided we needed a day out. I think this might be a first Welsh holy well in the blog!
The motorway was kind and soon we were in Wales, the signage instantly confusing and alluring. St Winefride’s Well, Ffynnon Wenffrewi, lies in a small town encouragingly called Holywell, Treffynnon, and we followed the signs to the well. The terrain was hilly, the roads small and the countryside wooded. We parked easily enough and set off for the site, nestled between the road and a steep hill.
A quick look in the Visitors’ Centre and we made our way to the site which consists of an elaborate chapel/shrine over the well crypt, an upper chapel, a three-storeyed well house and a large, outer pool, its water the colour of eau de nil.
The chapel/shrine dates from the late 15th century and is a marvel – elaborate, beautifully decorated and constructed in Gothic style complete with fan vaulting. It replaced an earlier stone chapel which in turn replaced an original wooden building and was possibly commissioned by Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond, mother of Henry VII.
The whole building is decorated with complex and interesting carvings, most of them well worn. The three examples below are: the central boss in the middle of the elaborate fan vaulting which depicts scenes from St Winefride’s life, the base showing the arms of England and Wales; St Beuno, her uncle, who came to her rescue when needed; and two pilgrims, one carrying the other on his back, maybe showing how those unable to walk were assisted though the water.
Below, the carving of the barrel with a a plant sprouting out of it is part of the arms of Elizabeth Hopton, wife to Sir William Stanley, one of the benefactors of the well. I’m unsure about the crowned head with the foliage/creatures emerging from its mouth.
Over the centuries the holy well has enjoyed continual high esteem and reverence and many influential patrons either visited in person or donated gifts towards its upkeep, including Richard II, Edward VI and Richard III. Henry V made a pilgrimage of thanks after his victory at Agincourt, and later, James II and his queen Mary of Modena visited in 1687 in the hope for a cure for infertility. A son was born to them the following year, attributed to the intercession of St Winefride herself, and their visit is marked by a plaque at the edge of the original well. Victoria also said to have visited whilst on holiday in the 1820s, before she became queen. The esteem continues and in 2021 King Charles III visited the well.
Other less famous pilgrims have left their marks – some thanking St Winefride for a cure, other grafitti more enigmatic and mysterious. Interesting to see how many pilgrims travelled from Ireland in search of healing.
Although the shrine is a marvel it is built directly over the water which, along with devotion to St Winefride, has always been the main reason for visiting the site. The well is contained in a large star-shaped pool and has long been renowned for its cures and healing. The spring still bubbles up vigorously, cold and clear and an astonishing blue.
The original bathing pool is a skinny rectangular space within the shrine, once accessible by steps but now closed off. Traditionally a pilgrim moved three times through the water in a triple immersion.
Originally the spring was much more vigorous. This image by John Speed from 1610, shows the water literally gushing out from under the chapel.
When Samuel Johnson visited in 1774 he described it as a powerful stream:
The spring called Winifred’s Well is very clear, and so copious that it yields one hundred tuns of water in a minute. It is all at once a very great stream which within perhaps thirty yards of its eruption turns a mill and in a course of two miles eighteen more.(Samuel Johnson’s Diary, 1774)
This painting by John Warwick shows how the site looked in 1790 when the site was attracting tourists and the curious, as well as pilgrims.
Shockingly, the well ran dry at the beginning of 1917 due to a drainage scheme connected to lead mining operations blocking the flow. Eventually an alternative source was located, the water diverted through a disused drainage tunnel called Holway Level which was then pumped into the well.
Pilgrims are no longer allowed to take water form the original well, treated with chlorine apparently, but the filtered spring water is available rather unromantically from a tap outside the shrine, its healing powers undiminished. We drank and it was good.
The magnificent outer pool with its luminous green water is still available for full immersion three times a day.
We watched as one of the custodians came down to remove the barriers and sat respectfully nearby reading a book, her rosary on her lap. It wasn’t long before a stream of people appeared. First a jolly group of ladies out for the day. They clustered on the steps, ankle deep in the exceptionally cold water ( a constant 10c). My brother looked on, trousers rolled up ready for his dip.
A large family appeared, the teenage son encouraged in by the rest of them. He shouted and shivered and then dipped in several times, a huge smile on his face. Another woman stood with her feet in the water, her companions touching her head, quietly praying. A young woman slipped silently into the water and stayed touching the sides of the pool in quiet contemplation. An older man discarded his crutches and was helped down the steps before taking a quick dip. A younger man plunged in and swam several lengths. It was incredibly reverential and oddly emotional and moving. My brother and I put our feet in.
So who was St Winefride? She was of noble birth, born around 600CE and – like many female saints – beautiful. She was pursued by one particular suitor named Caradoc but when she resisted his advances, he drew his sword and cut off her head. Where her head landed a spring sprung up. Luckily her uncle, St Beuno, was not far away and came rushing our from his church, and placed her head back on her shoulders. All was well except St Winefride forever had a thin white line around her neck, evidence of her martyrdom. As for Caradoc, he was cursed by St Beuno, sank into the ground and was never seen again. And interesting take on the story below.
The stone where St Beuno once prayed (or it could mark the spot where St Winefride’s head fell) is visible just below the water near the steps and was originally part of the rounds where pilgrims would sit and recite prayers, or even dip their heads under the water. Some say that the red marks are where Winefride’s blood stained the stone. A moss also grew around the well which had a smell like violets and was called St Winefride’s Hair and was often taken by pilgrims for its own curative properties.
Winefride eventually became a nun and joined a community at Gwytherin where she became the Abbess. She died there some 22 years later, her remains interred in Shrewsbury.
St Winefride has two feast days – 3rd November which commemorates her death (this actually occurred on the 2nd November but was already occupied by All Soul’s Day) and 22nd June, the date of her beheading.
There are two very nice depictions of St Winefride on the site – a stained glass panel showing herself and her uncle can be found in a small side chapel near the outdoor pool. They look thoughtfully at the spring, St Winefride bearing a chunky scar around her neck.
In the shrine itself is a rather beautiful statue of the saint. The original was destroyed many years ago and the niche remained empty for over 250 years. In 1888 a new statue of the saint was installed and now she gazes quietly out over proceedings wearing a saintly crown and holding a palm of martyrdom, a very thin white line discernible around her neck.
The cult of St Winefride was highly popular during the medieval period and spread throughout Wales and England, and two visits to her shrine were on a par with a pilgrimage to Rome. Although attempts were made to suppress pilgrimage and adoration, remarkably it survived the Reformation and beyond and is believed to be the oldest continually visited pilgrimage site in Britain. It remains a place of healing and reverence today and is recognised as a National Catholic Shrine. It is known as the Lourdes of Wales and is also one of the Seven Wonders of Wales, helpfully listed in this 18C poem!
Pistyll Rhaeadr and Wrexham steeple,
Snowdon’s mountain without its people,
Overton yew trees, St Winefride’s well,
Llangollen bridge and Gresford bells.
We much enjoyed our visit and left feeling remarkably calm and restored and although tempted to check out the other Six Wonders we went In search of lunch and ended up at the excellent Y Caffi (yes I succumbed to Welsh rarebit) near Basingwerk Abbey, which was most serendipitous as it seems the abbey had owned the holy well from at least 1240 and included a guesthouse for wealthier pilgrims – Henry V stayed here on his pilgrimage.
Basingwerk is on the North Wales Pilgrims Route from Llyn Peninsula to Bardsey Island, isle of 20,000 Saints. It’s a highly scenic 140 mile route, something else to put on the bucket list!
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