Medieval Welsh Pilgrimage, c.1100–1500 by Kathryn Hurlock

Author:Kathryn Hurlock
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781137430991
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US

It is more plausible to see the work at Gresford as occurring in stages under different patrons and using different funds, and it makes sense that, following the execution of William Stanley in 1495, the vicar might have turned to pilgrim offerings as a way to complete construction work that was already underway.

The combination of Stanley heraldry and poetry referring to Thomas Pennant suggests that something similar could have happened at Holywell: the well-building could have been started under the patronage of William Stanley, or funded through a gift from him, taken over by other benefactors after this death, and then completed under the guidance of Thomas Pennant. The decision to decorate the well-building with other heraldry probably reflects financial contributions made in the meantime. Making a partial contribution to construction, perhaps in return for the inclusion of heraldry in the final decoration, would be an effective way of advertising the role of a family or individual in the locality without the full expense of building the entire well-building and chapel.

One other aspect of St Winifred’s Well worth considering is the choice of design for the well-basin—a truncated eight-pointed star—as it also appears at St Mary’s Well, Cefn Meiriadog, south-east of St Asaph. The site has a “very strong architectural relationship” with its more famous exemplar, and though the medieval chapel is ruined and lacks the canopy and arches surviving at Holywell, it is striking that this well-basin of similar design is also found in north-east Wales.83 Cefn Meiriadog originally had a twelfth-century chapel but was rebuilt with this new well-basin, probably in the fifteenth century, though the dating of the site is hard given the poor state of the remains. It bore similar decoration to St Winifred’s Well, employing a “flower and fern” style motif, though the angles of the star forming the basin meant that it did not follow quite the same plan as at Holywell.84

The similarities between Cefn Meiriadog’s well and the one at Holywell do however suggest that one may have influenced the other, perhaps because the patrons of both were related (or at least known) to one another. It is not clear who controlled the site at Cefn Meiriadog when the rebuilding took place, though the chapel functioned as a chapel-of-ease for St Asaph, and after the Reformation, it was a popular site for clandestine marriages.85 It is thus possible that the site was under the patronage of the bishop, and that it was rebuilt by one of the last of the pre-Reformation bishops. Richard Redman, bishop of St Asaph (1471–95) became bishop after the see had been vacant for eight years following the deprivation the previous bishop.86 During his time as bishop of St Asaph he rebuilt the cathedral church, which had apparently been in ruins since revolt of Owain Glyndŵr in 1402, and showed himself to be a very competent and dedicated administrator in his dealings with his own order.87 His successors were also interested in construction work: Bishop Dafydd ab Owain (1503–13)

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