St Winefride’s Well, Holywell / Treffynnon

The Cistercian Way and North Wales Pilgrims Way pay due homage here

Highlights

• Holy well of St Winefride
• Medieval healing pool and chapel
• Site of longest unbroken pilgrimage in Britain
• Relic of St Winefride
• Scene of anti-Catholic persecutions

St Winefride’s Well is known as the Lourdes of Wales. Unlikely as it may seem, this is an understatement: Holywell is more than 1,000 years older than its French counterpart. The holy waters that gush out of the ground emerge into an outdoor pool the size of a small swimming pool, where pilgrims to this day immerse themselves and pray for St Winefride’s intercessions. Miraculous cures are regularly attributed to the site, which attracts 30,000 visitors a year.

An Italian priest enthusiastically shepherded us into the waters on the cold May morning when we visited. At least a dozen Irish Catholics took to the pool with us, wading around its edge three times while reciting their prayers. St Beuno’s stone lies submerged near the steps, a place to kneel and recite the rosary. We opted for a triple immersion in the middle of the pool, in the Orthodox and possibly Celtic manner, before making a slightly quicker exit than our hardy companions.

Such a scene has been taking place for almost 1,400 years, since St Winefride was murdered here in the mid-7th century and then miraculously restored to life by St Beuno. After we had dressed, the priest held a short service by the pool and presented a relic of St Winefride herself, a fragment of her finger bone in a glass case that pilgrims lined up to kiss.

There are set times for bathing in the morning and afternoon. You can fill a bottle with the holy water at any time and take it home. The complex is run by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wrexham and welcomes visitors of any persuasion, tourists and pilgrims alike. An exhibition in the visitor centre tells the story of the holy well and houses a collection of crutches discarded by healed pilgrims together with the museum artefacts.

Holywell is Britain’s most active link with early Christianity, at the limit of what is historically possible for the faith. It holds such sanctity it was even spared during the Reformation, when other wells were capped and their chapels destroyed. This rare outbreak of sentimentality is perhaps linked to the fact that Henry VIII’s grandmother, Lady Margaret, built a set of shrine buildings here a few decades earlier. The king defied a Pope and risked war with the Catholic states of Europe, but he wouldn’t take on his nan.

Although the well continued to flow, Catholics were severely persecuted for worshipping here for a number of centuries. The relics of martyrs are now on permanent public daily display in the interpretation centre.

Lady Margaret’s elegant building still stands around the pool. It houses a star-shaped well where the waters first emerge before flowing into the outer bathing pool. This inner well was once also used for bathing, its five points reminiscent of the holy well at Bethesda where Jesus healed the sick (see John 5:1–9). There is a side chapel where candles are lit by the faithful.

The site holds in its archives numerous documented miraculous cures from people of all walks of life from around the globe, a selection of which the custodians showed me when I visited. The wellhouse building is now used to house this archive collection, and is not generally open to the public.

The story of this miraculous pool’s origins sounds like an authentic record of the dark ages. St Winefride was a devout young woman who had decided to remain a virgin. One day around the year 630 Caradoc, a chieftain from Hawarden, attempted to seduce Winefride. She ran to the nearby chapel where her uncle, St Beuno, was celebrating Mass. Caradog caught her first and cut off her head with his sword. Where it fell to the ground a fountain of pure water sprung up – the origin of the holy well.

St Beuno emerged from the church, took up her head and placed it back on her body. He then prayed and raised her to life. A white scar encircled her neck, witness to her martyrdom. Caradoc sank to the ground as was never seen again. This Lazarus of Wales dedicated the rest of her life to the church and lived as a nun at nearby Gwytherin (see page 464) until her natural death there some 22 years later.

St Winefride’s Day is observed on a Sunday near to 22 June, the traditional date of her beheading, when a national Roman Catholic pilgrimage to the well takes place. She is also remembered on 3 November, the date of her natural death. The Orthodox hold an annual service here, in the ancient chapel above the well chamber, known as St Winefride’s chapel, which can be accessed at other times on request. Holywell is also on the St Winefride Pilgrim Trail.

Directions

St Winefride’s Well, Greenfield Road, Holywell, Flintshire CH8 7PN

www.saintwinefrideswell.com

W3W: senior.chuck.airbase

GPS: 53.2772N 3.2236W

The complex is open daily to all visitors, and a small entrance fee is payable (£1 an adult, 60p concessions, 40p children). Bathing times are daily 11am–11:30am, 1pm–1:30pm and 3pm–3:30pm. The short prayer service with the saint’s relic beside the pool is at 12noon (2:30pm on Sundays) during the summer from Pentecost to the end of September. Bring a towel and bathing costume. Full details of times and services are on the website, or tel: 01352 713054.

The visitor centre holds a key for the chapel above the well chamber, available on request.