St Wistan’s Church, near Newton Harcourt, Wistow

This site of royal martyrdom is the start of a one-day pilgrimage to Leicester Cathedral home to a different royal tomb, with a choice of 8- or 11-mile walking routes.‍

Highlights

• ‍‍Site of St Wistan’s martyrdom
• Church founded in Saxon times
• Miracle churchyard

Strands of hair are said to grow between the blades of grass in Wistow’s churchyard on the anniversary of St Wistan’s murder here, 1 June. This rather macabre miracle was verified in the 12th century by a commission sent from Canterbury.

Although there are no modern observations of the miracle to report, you can still visit the church that marks the scene of the saint’s death in 849. A Saxon church was erected in his honour here, but the current church fabric is Norman and later. The saint’s holy body was taken to Repton in Derbyshire (see page 292 for more about his life).

St Wistan was murdered by his cousin Brifardus, who wanted to wrest the throne from the saint’s mother, Queen Elfleda. The town was originally called by the longer name of Wistanstowe, meaning Wistan’s holy place. Its shortened form is used for other towns in England, so beware if relying on GPS.

By the time of the 12th century, the miracle of human hair growing in the churchyard on 1 June was already well known – and considered highly dubious by the church authorities. A delegation was sent by Baldwin, Archbishop of Canterbury, to investigate. Much to his surprise, they discovered the phenomenon to be true. I was only able to visit in February, when the church was locked and the grass was growing normally.

Indeed, the only commemoration in evidence at the church today consists of a plaque recording that the roof was reclad in aluminium in 1961 – a good way to foil lead thieves if you can get the planning permission. By coincidence, I met an elderly carpenter on my visit who had worked on this project as a young man. He told me of a secret charnel house they discovered in a hidden room on the north side of the church, which had been sealed since the 18th century.

Some guides mention a holy well in the grounds of the church, but I couldn’t find it, and none is marked on the OS map. The carpenter told me the workers had used a nearby stream to fill their buckets. The church lies on low ground and regularly suffers flooding, so it would be easy to sink a well anywhere here.

Directions

St Wistan’s Church, Kibworth Road, Wistow LE8 0QF‍

Wistow Benefice‍

W3W: slant.caskets.shift

GPS: 52.5578N 1.0520W‍

Wistow is 5 miles south of Leicester. The village is small and spread out. There is a garden centre called Wistow Rural Centre: the church is 400 yards east along Kibworth Road from there. It is set back from the road and screened by trees, so look out for a small parking area and a white gate. There is a useful village website at Wistow.com, which describes the history of the church.