Early Christianity

St Barruc is said to have been buried on Barry Island, possibly at the chapel which was dedicated to him. The ruins of this chapel are on Friar’s Road overlooking Jackson Bay. Read More »

The atmospheric church at St Bees is all that remains of a small Benedictine monastery closed down during the reformation. The priory is associated with the legend of St Bega, who is said to have fled here to escape an arranged marriage in Ireland. Read More »

In Clynnog Fawr, the shrine to Saint Bueno is a disproportionately large church for the size of the village, it dominates the area, and it’s probably one of the most important churches in North Wales. Read More »

The current church is thought to have been on the site of the original chapel founded by St Canna. It was rebuilt in 1820, but many references from the late 19th century refer to it as being dilapidated and unused. I am unsure of its recent history at the moment but what I am interested in is a legend attached to its construction. Read More »

St Canna (Born 510AD) founded churches at both Llangan and Llanganna, though she is thought to have maintained her residence at Llangan (Llang-gan) in Carmarthenshire (not to be confused with Llangan in the Vale of Glamorgan). It is here in Llangan that we find her church and records of a holy well and a cubical shaped stone inscribed with the name 'Carina' that were associated with the saint. Read More »

This gloomy atmospheric church, dating from the sixteenth century, is dedicated to St Clement, who was a bishop of Dunblane parish. Read More »

Around 794AD, King Offa of Mercia demanded the head of the Christian King Ethelbert of East Anglia whilst he was making arrangements to marry Offa's daughter. Not far from the location of Marden Church the young king was assassinated and his body hidden. After rumours of Ethelbert's ghost being seen in the marden area, Offa asked the Pope for absolution. Read More »

Today St George’s Day is not celebrated in England with anywhere near the vigour it was in past centuries, and is actually celebrated more in other countries that share his patronage, with traditions that have not been broken for hundreds of years. Read More »

This tiny chapel hidden in a deep ravine in the rocks dates from the thirteenth century. There may have been a chapel or religious structure here in the fifth century making it one of the earliest places of Christian worship. It has been suggested that the chapel was part of a larger Hermitage but its history is unclear. Read More »

St Lewina was a young British virgin who was martyred by Saxons on 24 July 687AD (whilst Theodore was 7th Archbishop of Canterbury). Following her death she was buried at Seaford, near Lewes in East Sussex. Read More »

Still referred to as a Cathedral, St Machar's has not held a Bishop's seat since the Reformation and is in reality a high kirk. Legend has it that St Machar was informed by God to find a place where a river bends like a bishops crozier and then to establish a church there. Hence in 580 St Machar founded his church in Aberdeen where the River Don flows upon such a route. Read More »

The church of St Mary’s on Church Hill in Barnetby-le-Wold dates from Saxon times though the current building is rebuilt during the Norman era. The church was actually declared redundant and closed in 1972 soo you cannot visit it without making special arrangements. One special item of note regarding St Mary’s was its lead font which dated from the early 12th century. Read More »

Though the current Gothic style church dates from 1609, the parish had a church dating from 1150, served by Jedburgh Abbey's monks and it is thought that there was a church on the site as early as the 6th century. Back in the 16th century this area on the border of Scotland between the Solway Firth and Langholm was known as the debatable lands and populated by the Border Reiver families. Read More »

St Michael's Mount is a picturesque rocky island that has been described as the 'Jewel in Cornwall's crown' - perhaps a reason for its popularity with visitors. Read More »

According to tradition, St Moling was descended from Catahair Már (a Prince of Leinster) and was born in Sliabh Luachra, County Kerry in 614AD. Read More »

This small and ancient church has a plethora of legends and traditions associated with it, making it one of the most important mysterious sites on the Isle of Lewis. Read More »

Originally known as Rinn Ros Broic (Badgers Wood Point), Kennedy’s Field and Achadh-Cainidh, St Mullins is the site where St Moling built his monastery during the 7th Century. Read More »

St David's Peninsula is supposedly the landing place of Twrch Trwyth, the magical boar told in the story of Culhwch and Olwen in the Mabinogion, King Arthur features heavily in the story. It is also the place where St Patrick is said to have sailed for Ireland to convert them to Christianity. Read More »

St Oswald, King of Northumbria (Born 604 – Died 5 August 642) was killed during the Battle of Maserfield (Maserfelth) against the pagan Mercian King Penda (Died 15 November 655). Read More »

Some wells in Britain are associated with the beheading of their patron saint, examples of which include the case of St Winifred, St Fremund, St Juthware and St Osyth. Read More »

Around 450AD St Patrick, patron saint of Ireland is supposed to have preached on the banks of Ullswater in Cumbria. The whole Patterdale area is named after him. In Glenridding a Holy Well dedicated to St Patrick can still be found roughly one mile outside of the village of Glenridding. Read More »

St Patrick’s Chair and Well (also known as the Druids Chair and Well or St Brigid’s Well or St Brigit’s Well) lies within Altadeven Wood, not far from the Ulster Way footpath. The chair is a huge 2m high stone block, shaped like a throne. Read More »

According to tradition, whilst St Patrick was converting the Irish pagans to Christianity in the 5th century, he had a vision whilst in a cave on Saints Island, just off the shore of Lough Derg. Read More »

St Peters Church in Llanbedr is where you can find, behind the rear pew, an ancient engraved stone that stands two foot nine inches in height and two foot wide. The engraving is that of a seven turn spiral measuring twelve inches in diameter. It is said to be similar to those associated with the Irish Boyne culture. Read More »

According to 'The Legendary Lore Of The Holy Wells Of England' by Robert Charles Hope (1893). 'On the spot where St. Sidwella is reputed to have been martyred is the well dedicated in her honour; it is situated on the left-hand of the Exeter side of the tunnel leaving the city, at a place called Lion's Holt. Read More »