St Edith's Well, Church Eaton

Dedication: Saint Edith?

Location: Church Eaton

Coordinates: 52.746208N, -2.245436W

Grid reference: SJ835165

Heritage designation: scheduled monument

There is some uncertainty as to who exactly Church Eaton's "St Edith" actually is. Is she St Edith of Wilton, St Edith of Aylesbury, St Edith of Polesworth, or St Edith of Tamworth? (To add to the confusion, the latter two may actually be one and the same.) The 10th century Edith of Wilton was a nun at Wilton Abbey, a religious establishment in Wiltshire. She is not known to have travelled outside of Wiltshire, and she only lived to the age of twenty-six. She was, however, a popular saint (supposedly, her relics were almost stolen twice), and at least one church outside of Wiltshire is dedicated to her, namely the parish church of Bishop Wilton, Yorkshire, so it is not impossible that she is the patron saint of Church Eaton. Edith of Aylesbury, who lived during the 7th century, was a daughter of Penda, the king of Mercia. Church Eaton was part of that kingdom, so it is possible that she visited the village or had a link to the area. Edith, too, became a nun, although little is known about her life or about why she was made a saint. Edith of Polesworth, who was very probably the same person as Edith of Tamworth, was the sister of King Athelstan. She became a Benedictine nun at Polesworth Abbey, before being appointed as the establishment's abbess. She is said to have been born in Tamworth in the early 10th century. Several churches in the Midlands are known to be dedicated to her, and she is therefore probably the most likely Edith to be the patron saint of Church Eaton.

The well itself was (and, by all reports, still is) a very substantial one; the fact that the structure can be seen from Google Maps testifies to this. This alone indicates that the well was of great importance locally, which likely hepled it to gain protection as a scheduled monument in 1968. It is not clear what originally funded the building of stone structure (which is thought to date from the 15th century), but possibly the money came from a rich land owner who wished to, in the days before the Reformation, shorten his time in Purgatory. The site's entry on the National Heritage List for England, which was evidently written very quickly, and affords the site no more than three sentences, describes the well thus:

The monument includes a holly well [sic] situated at the western corner of a field, south west of High Onn Wharf. A rectangular structure built of red sandstone ashlar blocks includes five steps which lead down to a water-filled rectangular basin measuring 2.1m by 1.5m. The well is associated with the Anglo-Saxon Saint Edith and there is a likely association with St. Editha's Church in Church Eaton 1.7km to the north east.

The earliest reference that I could find to the well dates from 1608, and can be seen in The English Martyrologe, which was written by "a Catholicke Prieſt", who evidently did not wish to be identified at a time when Catholics were greatly persecuted for their beliefs. Interestingly, the "Catholicke Prieſt" was of the opinion that St Edith of "VVilton" is the patron saint of the well, which probably reflects the local beliefs of the time. His statement about the well can be seen below:

The ſame day at VVilton, [16th of September] in the Church of St. Dionyſe, the depoſition of S. Edith Virgin and Abbeſſe, daughter to holy Edgar King of England, who deſpiſing all worldly and temporall perfermentes became a Religious woman in the Monaſtery of VVilton, vnder the care and gouernment of her owne mother VVilfrede, after whoſe deſceaſe, ſhe was made Abbeſſe of the ſame place: where in all ſanctimony of life, ſhe gaue vp her ſoule to her heauenly ſpouſe, in the yeare of Chriſt, nyne hundred fourſcore and foure. There are many goodly Churches and monumentes of her name yet to be ſeen in diuers places of Englād:& one particularly at a Towne called Church-Eaton in Staffordshire, where there is a little well-ſpring of water, very ſoueraigne for many diſeaſes, c̄monly called by the name of S. Ediths well.

Robert Plot, in The Natural History of Stafford-Shire, which was published in 1686, also mentions St Edith's Well:

Beſide theſe, there are many other waters, not apparently (or at leaſt to ſenſe) of any mineral virtue, that will not anſwer theſe Experiments, yet no doubt carry with them ſome ſubtile ſteams whereby they performe unaccountable Cures: ſuch is the water of the well near Gawton ſtone in Knyperſley Park, which has ſome reputation for cure of the Kings-evill, and ſo has the Spring called Salters wall, near Newcaſtle under Lyme; And ſuch is the water of the three wells near Shuſton houſe, and of St. Ediths well, both in the Pariſh of Church-Eyton...

The well was specifically believed to have the power to heal both eye diseases and the King's Evil, which is now known as scrofula, and it was also said that the water from the well would not cause anything to rust. The water from the spring was reportedly once used for baptisms at the church.

Despite the fact that the well was obviously still venerated by Catholics and probably many of the local people immediately following the Reformation, it seems that its popularity deteriorated over the centuries. By the 19th century, any superstition involving St Edith's Well was firmly in the past, as was stated in Volume 7 of Notes and Queries: a Medium of Intercommunication for Literary Men, General Readers, etc., on the 2nd of March, 1889 (the author also was of the opinion that the well is dedicated to St Edith of Wilton):

There is a well of St. Edith at Church Eaton, in Staffordshire, which was a place of pilgrimage, and believed, like the "Holywells" in Wales, London &c., and the shrines of our Lady of Walsingham, &c., to be miraculous.

Today, the well is located on private land in the corner of a field. It is likely that the well once lay on common land, meaning that it would have been accessible to pilgrims and other visitors. In the 1950s, a wicker structure was constructed over the well, but this has now fallen into ruin, and the well has been included on Historic England's "At Risk Register" several times, although it is no longer part of that list. The exact condition of the well is uncertain, although it is still marked on Ordnance Survey maps.