Priory Church of St Mary and St Bega, St Bees

Start of the four-day St Bega’s Way walk to the parish church of St Bega at Bassenthwaite, a 40-mile route following in the footsteps of a saintly Irish princess

Highlights

• Possible Celtic foundation
• Former shrine of St Bega

It would be fascinating to know more about Britain’s female Celtic leaders. They left such a mark on our spiritual heritage. St Bega is a prime example, her church developing into an important monastery over the centuries. Though closed at the Reformation, the huge abbey church now serves the parish of St Bees. It is a grand building, set amid tall trees. Fragments of its monastic splendour can be seen in the west front and in the surrounding buildings. St Bega was an Irish princess who came to England as a missionary in perhaps the late 7th century. Her shrine was venerated at this church, its most notable relic being her bracelet. This has all been lost, along with any remains of her original church. Even her name has eroded into St Bees.

Another church dedicated to her is found on the eastern shore of Bassenthwaite, connected by the St Bega’s Way pilgrim route. The oldest surviving objects are two stone cross shafts. One is in the cemetery on the north side of the church, and the other is displayed in the south aisle as part of a history exhibition. Both date from the 10th century, the Viking era as the village online history records. As for the church you see today, the oldest parts, including the fine west doorway, date from its foundation in 1120.

The Normans placed the priory under the monastery of St Mary in York, hence its dedication to both the Virgin and St Bega. We know little about St Bega, and some historians claim she is entirely fictitious. It is common to hear skepticism about early Celtic missionaries, but it seems unfair to deny St Bega’s existence altogether, particularly as there does seem to be at least one early church leader of this name and date.

Bede wrote his books around 60 years after she lived. In his History (iv.23) he refers to someone called St Begu, a nun linked to the community at Hartlepool (page 385). Admittedly that is on the other side of the country, but if she were from Ireland she might well have traveled via Cumbria. A 13th-century Life offers the most extensive documentary evidence, though it is full of folk tales. It says that St Bega came to St Bees from Ireland and later fled to Hartlepool to avoid pirate raids. She left behind her miracle-working bracelet as compensation to her abandoned community. Two of these details are suspect. ‘Pirate’ or Viking raids did not start until much later, from the late 8th century onwards. And the Saxon words Bega and beag (bracelet) are so similar that some historians assume there has been a basic mix-up about her origins.

There was definitely a bracelet venerated at St Bees up until the Reformation. Church accounts in 1517 refer to offerings left to the precious relic. If St Bega is fictitious, it begs the question who owned this bracelet, and why it was considered holy in the first place. Perhaps there were two different saints, St Bega in Cumbria and a St Begu on the east coast.

There is a well near this church, set into the Priory Paddock wildflower garden on the edge of the former monastic complex. Whether it was once considered holy is unknown, and it might only have supplied the monastery’s physical needs. The OS map calls it simply a well, and there were no signs to it or beside it. The water does emerge into a stone structure, but it is probably Victorian and certainly dates from no earlier than the 18th century. The garden is a charming enclave, directions given below.

Directions

Church of St Mary and St Bega, Church Road/ B5345, St Bees CA27 0DR  

stbeespriory.org.uk  (click ‘History & Publications’)  

W3W: resembles.jiffy.title  

GPS: 54.4938N 3.5939W  

St Bees railway station 200m  

The town is split into two by the railway line, and the church is in on the west side of the tracks, easy to spot from the road. To find the well and wildflower garden, go into the small car park to the south of the church. There is a footpath running along the fields 25m below you, along the side of the sports pitches. Walk along this path and you will see a gate on your right into the Priory Paddock after 130m along the path. The well is in the middle of this small garden.