St Oswald's Well, Oswestry

Saxon pilgrims were so keen to gather soil from where St Oswald died they dug out a pit as deep as an adult, a thought for modern pilgrims walking the St Winefride Pilgrim Trail

‍Highlights

• Holy well on site of St Oswald’s martyrdom

St Oswald gave his name to this town, but tourist literature and even the local church seemed coy about describing the whereabouts of his holy well. Rest assured it is still here, tucked in a little hollow beside a suburban road. This source of water might not look like much to the modern eye, but its effect on the town is clearly visible even today. Medieval pilgrims helped pay for the enormous St Oswald’s Church in the town centre, one of the country’s widest parish churches.

The well is less than half a mile from the church, tucked under the verge of a side road. It is difficult to spot when driving or cycling past, but its tiny garden and stone path lend tranquillity and solitude. A metal grille has been installed in front of the clear-flowing waters, presumably to keep animals rather than pilgrims out. It is easy enough to reach a hand between the bars and touch the water, which gathers in a little stone pool. Christians have taken St Oswald’s blessing here since the 7th century, and you can do so today in relative seclusion.

St Oswald was King of Northumbria. His reign (634–642) had a profound effect on the development of the early church in northern England, which was still mostly pagan. He became a Christian at Iona in Scotland, and it was his idea to set up the famous monastery at Lindisfarne (page 404).

But the introduction of the new faith was by no means straightforward. The pagan King Penda killed St Oswald at the Battle of Maserfield in 642. St Oswald’s body was ritually dismembered as an offering to Woden. Such gory martyrdom made him famous across Europe.

It also brings us directly to the holy well at Oswestry, which is probably the same place as Maserfield. According to one account, St Oswald was executed against a tree, which gives the name ‘Oswald’s Tree’, or Oswestry for short. A raven picked up the king’s severed arm and dropped it on the ground a short distance away. Where it fell, a spring gushed forth. And that is the spring you can visit today.

St Oswald died on 5 August, now his saint’s day. The Venerable Bede, writing nearly 100 years later, records that the ground where St Oswald fell was so holy pilgrims had excavated a hole deep enough for a man to stand up in (History iii.9). But he doesn’t mention the well. A 12th-century writer, Reginald of Durham, is the first to mention the story of the raven and well, in his Life of St Oswald.

There is another claimant to the location of Maserfield and St Oswald’s martyrdom. Winwick in Cheshire has a church (GPS: 53.4308N 2.5979W) and a holy well (GPS: 53.4422N 2.5925W) that some believe are the site. However, when I visited, the church was locked and the well dry.

Directions‍

Maserfield/Oswald’s Well Lane, Oswestry SY11 1SB

W3W: noises.enjoys.ranted

GPS: 52.8571N 3.0648W‍

The well is easy to find if you start from the parish church of St Oswald, near the town centre. Head south along Church Street (the B5069) and turn immediately right after the church, along Upper Brook Street. After 130m, take the second right up Oswald Place, which becomes Oswald’s Well Lane, which in turn becomes Maserfield. The well is on your left just 30m after the Maserfield road sign and junction with Lower Minster. It is on the edge of a large green open space.

The church is dedicated to St Oswald, King and Martyr.

For more details, see its website at www.stoswaldsoswestry.org.uk.