  |
|
|
|
Holy Well Springs Clwyd: The Lourdes of WalesIn Holywell, a 7th Century Healing Well Still Draws Sick Pilgrims© Ja Woolf 
In Holywell, North Wales, a beautiful and unusual Tudor chapel alongside the main road marks the ancient healing well of St. Winifride, which gives the town its name.
The well, (known in Welsh as Ffynnon Gwenfrewi), is considered to be one of the "Seven Wonders of Wales." It consists of two pools of clear, and very cold waters. The larger, rectangular pool is outside, and the star shaped much smaller pool is inside the old chapel, protected by a stone, fan-vaulted ceiling. Miraculous LegendSt Winifride was a young noblewoman who was pursued in marriage by a local chieftain called Caradoc. Frightened by his aggression, the legend says, she fled for sanctuary to the church which had been started by her uncle, St. Bueno. She was savagely beheaded by Caradoc before she reached it. However, as her head touched the ground, a spring bubbled up. St. Bueno prayed for her restoration to life. His prayer was granted, but forever after, the saint had a thin white line around her neck. PilgrimagesThereafter, the spring became venerated for its healing qualities. Pilgrims came from all over England, or even from abroad. They were passed, or were carried through the water, three times. By the time of Chaucer, Holywell had become as great a pilgrim site as Canterbury. Henry V walked there from Shrewsbury to thank the saint for her help at the battle of Agincourt. A Pious BenefactressThe chapel was built around 1500 by Henry VII’s mother, Lady Margaret, Countess of Richmond, a pious woman and great benefactress who yearned to live the life of a nun. Her chapel replaced an earlier chapel which was in a bad state of repair, for even by then, the legend of St. Winifride was very old indeed. Curious CarvingsMany of the chapel’s carvings and inscriptions give an insight into the minds of those who made them. Overlooking the bathing part of the well with its steps in and out of the water, is a carving of a pilgrim carrying another pilgrim on his back. High in the crypt ceiling is an ancient carving of the saint herself. It is weatherworn now, but she can be discerned, sitting with a staff in her hand, while angels support a crown over her head. Many fascinating pilgrim inscriptions, dating from the 16th century, are cut into the pillars. In the chapel’s nave, interesting wood carvings puzzle modern visitors. They depict such things as comic faces, a mantichora (a human head on a lion’s body) a griffin, a lencrota (a kind of fabulous horse), a beaver, angels, a harvest scene and a depiction of the Last Judgement. An Ever-Flowing MemorialThe poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote a poem around a hundred years ago about St. Winifride’s Well and its “wild rash and reeling water, that will not wear a print, will not stain a pen…” which was the saint’s permanent memorial. Just as he described, the spring keeps flowing, and St. Winifrede’s memory remains alive, her spring still a place of pilgrimage today. New MuseumHolywell is proud of the well and the building was recently refurbished. A museum of its history was added.. It's open on Summer Wednesdays and Weekends between 12 and 4 pm, other times by appointment. Another fascinating chapel is described in "Honfleur's Ancient Chapel of the Sea"
The copyright of the article Holy Well Springs Clwyd: The Lourdes of Wales in Wales Travel is owned by Ja Woolf. Permission to republish Holy Well Springs Clwyd: The Lourdes of Wales in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
|
|
|
|
