St. Winefride's Well (Ffynnon Gwenffrewi)

I am currently incorporating a section on St. Winefride’s Well (Welsh: Ffynnon Gwenffrewi) into my latest book.

Not many of you may have marked June 22nd  as St. Winefride's Day on your calendars and why would you? You've probably never heard of the place. Located just a short distance from my home in North Wales, the town of Holywell is home to St. Winefride's Well.  As you descend the steep hill out of Holywell heading in the direction of Greenfield, the place looks all rather untidy and most ordinary, then to the left you come across a remarkable location... a  Christian shrine which holds the distinction of being the only one in Britain with a recorded history of pilgrimage spanning over 1300 years.

In recent years, there has been a notable resurgence of interest in pilgrimage to holy sites, reminiscent of the dark ages and medieval Christianity.  People are drawn to these places associated with holy individuals, relics, and places of healing.  Not all of these sites were monasteries or churches;  many were originally pre-Christian locations such as wells, ancient burial mounds, and groves of trees. Over time, these locations transformed from pagan holiness to recognised holy places and shrines were often constructed upon or near them.

Nowadays in North East Wales there is only one remaining ‘Holy Well” – that of  St. Winefride – made more important, as it is officially recognised as a place of healing by Rome. Hence the reason that it is known as the Lourdes of Wales.

The ancient ‘pilgrimage industry' was swept away by Henry VIII and relics and roods destroyed.  Following Tudor times,  churches in Wales generally fell into decline with little money being spent on them. So by the 19th century many churches in Wales were in poor condition and a programme of rebuilding, restoration and general renovation took place.  This ‘Gothic Revival' obliterated genuine medieval remnants and holy sites in the Flintshire area lost  many important historic artefacts in the process, but St. Winefride's survived more or less in tact.

Pilgrimage to ‘Holy Sites’ and ‘Ancient Pagan Sites’ is now in a period of re-birth but nowadays, in the main, the pilgrims visit these Holy Sites for the peace and serenity they exude as opposed to their need to visit a site to be healed of some affliction as they might have done so many hundreds of years ago. 

Do become a modern day pilgrim and come visit St. Winefride's Well!

Official site and information here: http://www.stwinefrideswell.org.uk

More on this story in the coming days...

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