Venton la holy well, St Ives

One of Britain’s earliest martyrs, St Ia lent her name to this town and bequeathed it a holy well too, a short detour from the route of the Cornish Celtic Way

‍Highlights

• ‍‍Holy Well of St Ia (St Ive)

St Ia is sometimes claimed as a martyr, killed near the mouth of the River Hayle where St Ives now stands. If this is true, it could make her the first known female martyr in Britain. She came here as a missionary from Ireland in the late 5th century. Her holy well can still be found in a quiet corner of this busy tourist town, a paved area below a cemetery. Although it is easy to access the water, the well currently lacks any spiritual context or symbol, apart from a small plaque recording its dedication. Two stone basins are recessed into a well housing, and were once used to supply this end of town with fresh water. They are called ‘Venton Ia’, which is Cornish for Ia’s Well.

St Ia was one of the many Irish missionaries who brought Christianity to the Cornish people. A 13th-century Life of Gwinear is the earliest reference we have to her. She intended to travel to Cornwall with some other missionaries but somehow missed the boat. Rather than heading for home, she prayed and a leaf was miraculously transformed into a seaworthy vessel. As others have observed, coracles look a bit like a leaf from a distance, their circular, lightweight structure of willow rods covered with animal skin sitting high on the waves.

Later tradition claims that her death came at the hands of the pagan King Tewdar. She was buried in St Ives, and a church was built over her shrine. There is no trace of any shrine in the current parish church, which celebrated its 600th anniversary in 2010. But it has a number of other interesting features connected to Cornwall’s saints.

A series of carved and painted wooden statues can be seen along the nave and chancel ceiling. They depict many of the saints recorded at the holy wells in Cornwall. A modern statue of St Ia can be seen on the reredos behind the high altar, to the right of the crucifix. A sculpture in the Lady Chapel by the 20th-century artist Dame Barbara Hepworth depicts the Madonna and Child. St Ia’s saint’s day is marked by the town on the Sunday and Monday nearest to 3 February, when a civic procession is held to the Venton Ia well, led by the town mayor.

Directions‍

Holy Well

Corner of Porthmeor Hill and Beach Road, St Ives TR26 1JU

W3W: besotted.fizzy.twee

GPS: 50.2144N 5.4846W‍

St Ives Parish Church

Market Place, St Ives TR26 1LE‍

www.stiveschurch.org.uk‍

W3W: pesky.strain.webcams

GPS: 50.2126N 5.4801W‍

Venton Ia is easy to find. From the Tate art gallery, come out of the building onto the street and walk left along Beach Road. The well is 150m along here on the left. The parish church is prominent on the main seafront in the center of St Ives, by the pier, and is open to visitors.