St Withburga's Well, East Dereham

An annual pilgrimage visit to this well from the church alongside keeps devotion to St Withburga’s holy source alive, a site that once drew pilgrims, and then spa visitors

Highlights

• 8th-century holy well
• Site of St Withburga’s convent

Less than 15 miles from England’s most active pilgrimage site, St Withburga’s holy well is an altogether quieter sacred source. Pilgrims at Walsingham take the waters daily. Here at East Dereham, there is one service a year, in July.

As it happens, this half-forgotten pool is even older than the famous Walsingham shrine. St Withburga was buried here in 743, beside the monastery she founded. Within a few years, she was venerated for the miracles at her tomb. Indeed, she became so famous that some monks from Ely came and stole her body in 947. The poor people of East Dereham were heartbroken – until they discovered that a holy well flowed from her empty grave. The water still flows today with St Withburga’s blessing and has never failed.

The well became famous for healing miracles in the Middle Ages, and was even restored in the 18th century – as a spa rather than a miraculous source. The spa house has been demolished, but a substantial stone pavement, pool, and recess remain. Steps lead down into the well chamber, but it is only filled to a shallow depth now, suitable for drinking and crossing yourself should you gain access. Although locked on my visit, there may be someone in the church in the mornings who can open it; details are at the end.

It is at least easy to find, a few metres downhill from the impressive church of St Nicholas, which was open on my visit. The church contains a picture of the saint on a painted panel in the south transept. The figure is somewhat battered, but a dark blue nun’s habit is still identifiable.

St Withburga’s feast day is 8 July, marked by the church’s annual service by the pool on the first Sunday in July. An inscription above the spring was half obscured by plants on my visit, but states that St Withburga was the daughter of King Anna of the East Angles, who died in 654. For this to be true, she must have died 89 years after her supposed father, and more than 60 years after her sister St Etheldreda.

There are also some doubts about the holy well’s history. For example, the thieving monks are said to have rowed away with the saint’s relics while the good people of East Dereham threw clods of earth at them from the riverbank in impotent rage. There is no river near the town. Perhaps the well appeared during St Withburga’s lifetime. She certainly struggled to provide for her tiny community in the early years, and a source of fresh water would have been much treasured from the outset. Another miracle story relates that the Blessed Virgin appeared to the saint and told her where to find two does. The animals would miraculously allow themselves to be milked each morning to provide food for her hungry workers.

Directions

St Nicholas Church, Church Street, East Dereham, Norfolk NR19 1DN

www.derehamanddistrictteam.org.uk

W3W: rips.recap.giraffes

GPS: 52.6810N 0.9374E‍

The well is in the St Nicholas Church graveyard, a few metres downhill from its west end. The church is on the corner of Church Street and Saint Withburga Lane, near the centre of East Dereham. The parish aims to keep the church open during the daytimes.