[MR] Wikepedia: St. Aldhelm of Malmesbury

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

While casting about for something upon which to comment, I lit upon St.
Aldhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury and Bishop of Sherborne. He is one of the most
interesting Anglo-Saxon saints, and one of my personal favorites. (Like
Lady Sarah Sinclair and myself, he was among other things a librarian,
though that is not part of his patronage portfolio). Since I've commented
upon his life and mission before, I thought today I would concentrate on
his holy well, or maybe holy wells.

St. Aldhelm died in 709 while on his episcopal rounds at a small church in
Doulting, Somerset, know today as St. Aldhelm's Church:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Aldhelm%27s_Church,_Doulting . A spring
rises in small cavern under the hill upon which the present 12th century
church stands. This well is said to have been where St. Aldhelm meditated
and prayed regularly in its icy waters, and where he was praying just
before his death. Naturally the well became a holy site, if it wasn't
already (like many wells it likely was a pagan place of power repurposed by
the early Church).

Today the stream exits the hill through small brick double arches to keep
the curious out of the cave. The well pool was once covered by a
substantial well-head building, the remains of which are still visible in
the underbrush: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Aldhelm%27s_Well .

Lady Sarah and I visited the well in 2005 while touring in England. At
first I was confused, as what we saw from the road was a brick wall with a
spout draining a trickle of water into a grate. After poking around a bit,
I found the actual holy well I had seen in pictures behind the wall. From
the water I extracted a small chert pebble about as big as my thumbnail. I
may be a bit of a closet Catholic, and this is a treasure beyond price to
me. I believe the gentle Saint would be pleased.

But wait! While Aldhelm's death at this site is . . . uh . . . well
recorded, is this really where he sat in the frigid water to do his
regularly devotions? Actually there is another candidate.

Several years ago I found a web site that showed a photo of a holy well in
Malmesbury or Sherborne. I don't remember which, and the bookmarked link is
now dead. This well is on private property in the garden of a residence,
and not open or even well known to the public. Given the proximity to one
or the other places with which Aldhelm is associated, this makes a far
better candidate than Doulting for the well in which the saint regularly
bathed and prayed. I wish I could find a photo of this well, but that's the
web for you.

In any case, the Doulting well is the one which has been revered for
centuries, and visiting it was a moving experience.

Yours Aye,

Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆