Featured: Explore Scotland (and everywhere else) with our Megalithic Portal iPhone app

Explore Scotland (and everywhere else) with our Megalithic Portal iPhone app

Random Image


Paines Bridge, Wallington C

Roads and Trackways of North Wales

Roads and Trackways of North Wales

Who's Online

There are currently, 231 guests and 4 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

More Choices

Contribute to our running costs
Webrings
News Feeds
Megalithic Mysteries
Our Online Shop

<< Our Photo Pages >> St Withburga's Well - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Norfolk

Submitted by vicky on Tuesday, 31 August 2004  Page Views: 19751

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Withburga's Well
Country: England County: Norfolk Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
 Nearest Village: East Dereham
Map Ref: TF9865213305  Landranger Map Number: 132
Latitude: 52.681007N  Longitude: 0.937285E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 4

Internal Links:
External Links:

I have visited· I would like to visit

RedKite1985 visited on 10th May 2023 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 3 Access: 5

St Withburga's Well
St Withburga's Well submitted by hamstermoon : St Withburgha's Well at East Dereham (Vote or comment on this photo)
Holy Well / Spring in Norfolk in the churchyard of St Nicholas' in the centre of East Dereham. The water sprang from the grave of St Withburga when her bones were removed.

A plaque records that "The ruins of a tomb which contained the remains of Withburga, youngest daughter of Anna, King of East Angles, who died AD 654. The Abbot and monks of Ely stole this precious relic and translocated to Ely Cathedral, where it was interred near her three royal sisters, AD 974"
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


St Withburga's Well
St Withburga's Well submitted by hamstermoon : This view of the well shows one of the entry points of the water. You can see that the green plant against the wall has grown into the water flow. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Withburga's Well
St Withburga's Well submitted by RedKite1985 : St Withburga's Well. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Withburga's Well
St Withburga's Well submitted by rogerkread : St Withburga's in the snow - bitterly cold March day. Note the 'offering' by the locals, but I think they'd drunk it first. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Withburga's Well
St Withburga's Well submitted by hamstermoon : A picture of St Withburgha from inside the church. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
TF9813 : St Withburga's Well & St Nicholas Church, Dereham, Norfolk by John Salmon
by John Salmon
©2008(licence)
TF9813 : The Parish Church of St. Nicholas, Dereham by G Laird
by G Laird
©2015(licence)
TF9813 : Site of Withburga's Tomb, East Dereham by Rob Farrow
by Rob Farrow
©2005(licence)
TF9813 : Dereham - Old House next to Church by James Emmans
by James Emmans
©2016(licence)
TF9813 : Church of St Nicholas, Dereham by David Robertson
by David Robertson
©2007(licence)

The above images may not be of the site on this page, they are loaded from Geograph.
Please Submit an Image of this site or go out and take one for us!


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive OS map

Key: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed

Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)

To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.


Turn off the page maps and other distractions

Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 4.6km NW 306° St Agnes Well, Longham* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TF94831586)
 8.3km N 4° North Elmham Chapel* Ancient Temple (TF9888121640)
 12.1km NNW 329° Whissonsett wheel-head cross* Ancient Cross (TF91922334)
 12.3km SW 231° Devil's Dyke (Norfolk)* Misc. Earthwork (TF8934705200)
 13.5km ENE 72° The Warren Barrow Round Barrow(s) (TG11371798)
 13.9km NE 48° Pettywell* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TG086230)
 14.1km WNW 302° Litcham Heath* Round Barrow(s) (TF863202)
 14.8km WNW 298° Weasenham Plantation* Barrow Cemetery (TF853198)
 14.9km ENE 73° Alderford Common Barrow Round Barrow(s) (TG12751828)
 16.8km SE 137° St Thomas's Well (Wymondham)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TG10550146)
 16.9km SW 215° Merton Stone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL895991)
 17.2km ESE 108° St Walstan's Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TG15350878)
 18.3km ESE 101° Roundwell* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TG168104)
 19.3km SW 223° Little Cressingham Barrow Cemetery* Barrow Cemetery (TL861986)
 20.4km E 80° Horsford Woods Barrow Cemetary* Barrow Cemetery (TG18571780)
 20.5km WSW 246° Cockley Cley Iceni Village* Museum (TF802043)
 20.6km NW 307° West Rudham* Round Barrow(s) (TF81652495)
 21.1km WSW 247° St Mary’s Chapel, Cockley Cley* Ancient Temple (TF79550411)
 21.3km NW 307° West Rudham Cursus Cursus (TF810254)
 21.9km NW 309° West Rudham South* Long Barrow (TF810263)
 21.9km NW 309° West Rudham North* Long Barrow (TF810264)
 22.2km ENE 62° Maiden's Head* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TG178246)
 22.8km NW 322° Wicken Covert Barrow Round Barrow(s) (TF83973081)
 23.0km NW 321° Coxford Heath Barrow Round Barrow(s) (TF83493070)
 23.3km S 176° Gallows Hill Tumulus Round Barrow(s) (TM01419019)
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< Old Wife's Neck

Chysauster Fogou >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Contribute!

· NEW: I have visited
· I would like to visit
· Submit an Image
· Add a description
· Give accurate position
· Add a comment or news about this site

Seahenge

Seahenge

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"St Withburga's Well" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: St Withburga's Well by davidmorgan on Sunday, 17 March 2013
(User Info | Send a Message)
Street View
View Larger Map
[ Reply to This ]

Re: St Withburga's Well by hamstermoon on Sunday, 22 February 2009
(User Info | Send a Message)
Withburgha was one of three sisters, Daughter of King Anna, who founded convents. I was going to write a description of Withburga's legend myself but found the following on Wikipedia. I think it tells it rather well ...

While she was building the convent she had nothing but dry bread to give to the workmen. She prayed to the Virgin Mary and was told to send her maids to a local well each morning. There they found two does which provided milk for the workers. This allowed the workers to be fed.

The local overseer did not like Withburga or her miracles and decided to hunt these does down with dogs, and prevent them from coming to be milked. He was punished for his cruelty when he was thrown from his horse and broke his neck. This story is remembered in the large town sign in Dereham marketplace.

When Withburga died, in AD 743, she was buried in the abbey cemetery. Her body was dug up 55 years later, was found not to have decayed, and was moved into the church that she had built. Dereham became a place of pilgrimage, with people coming to visit Withburga's tomb.

In AD 974 the Abbot of Ely, Brithnoth, elected to steal her body so that he could have financial gain from the pilgrims. Brithnoth and some armed men came to Dereham and organised a feast. When the Dereham men were properly drunk the Ely mob stole Withburga's body and set off for home. Dereham soon found out that this crime had taken place and set off after the Ely criminals.

There was a large fight between the two sides, with spears as well as fists being thrown. As the men approached Ely, however, the thieves had the advantage of knowing their way through the swamps and marshes - and Withburga was deposited in Ely.

When the Dereham men returned home, however, they found that a spring had appeared in Withburga's violated tomb. The water in this spring was considered to be compensation for the loss of their saint, and pilgrims continued to come and drink from the water.
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.