The well in Binsey churchyard was supposedly dedicated by St,. Frideswide to St.
Margaret & the church too is dedicated to her. Margaret was invoked by women
wanting an easy childbirth. Some legends depict Margaret as bursting out of the
stomach of the dragon she fought with - though the concept of your child being
born in this manner is a bit too reminiscent of the film "Alien" for me (!) - &
this supposedly provides the connection with easing childbirth. The well has a
reputation as a fertility well ( and is still used for that purpose today). The
other interesting point about dedications to Margaret is that they frequently
appear at churches/wells which are at low lying sites whereas dedications to St.
Michael are almost invariably to churches on hill top sites (ie Glastonbury
Tor). One view of Margaret's dragon is that it represents Satan/the forces of
darkness & that dedications to her (like Michael) were used to supress "pagan"
sites. There is evidence of at least iron age settlement at Binsey & the near
vicinity & I lean tentatively towards the idea that we may be looking at a very
old cult site, but no definite evidence, alas.
Alison M.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
|