A BBC newspage describes plans to restore St Dyfnog's well near Denbigh:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-30657424
This seems to be a good model for local interest, action and the acquisition of funding to carry out the restoration. NB They're appealing for any info that anyone else might have about the history of the well.
The latest Current Archaeology (Jan 2015) carries a letter about St Frideswide's well at Frilsham, Berks. The letter illustrates the difficulty of handling the hagiography of well saints in relation to 'real' history. The writer is incorrect in saying that Frilsham's name derives from Frideswide, according to the most recent dictionary of place-names I have. She attributes the church dedication of Frideswide to the saint's retreat to the manor after the Unpleasantness described in the legend, but hagiography isn't history. From what we can piece together, Frideswide followed the pattern of being the daughter of a local ruler, installed as abbess probably in a double monastic house/minster. The Benedictine Reformers didn't like women in power, and in the post-Conquest legends of locally venerated saints, such as Frideswide and Gwenfrewi, made them victims in a way that they almost certainly were not. Alternatively, Kenelm's sister Cwenthryth ('Quendrida' in Anglo-Latin) was turned into a villain - historically, she was unwise enough to get into a conflict with the Archbishop of Canterbury over the ownership of a manor. (Historically, she seems to have been abbess in a series of important minsters in areas controlled by Mercia.) The Frilsham dedication is complicated by the move of the centre of the relevant diocese from Dorchester to Lincoln, and I don't have access to documentation that might suggest the reason for that dedication. I haven't come across a saint's well, however, that certainly predates the arrival of the Benedictine Reformers in mid 10th C, and they all seem to be on land held by cathedrals, churches or monasteries. Is anyone more up to speed on Berks wells and dedications?
I do agree with the letter writer that the church and well are worth visiting. The churchyard is apparently circular, and a Roman altar has been excavated in the manor/parish.
Christine B
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