TWO CHESHIRE SAINTS
By the Archdeacon of Chester
WE are justified in giving this title to St. Werburgh and St. Plegmund, of whom specially this chapter will treat, since both belonged to the old kingdom of Mercia, of which Cheshire was a part.
We owe our knowledge of St. Werburgh to the metrical life of the Saint written by Henry Bradshaw, a monk of St. Werburgh’s Monastery, who died in 1513. The full title of his work (which was printed in 1521 and reprinted by the Chetham Society in 1848) is The Holy Lyfe and History of Saynt Werburge, very frutefall for all Christen people to rede. It purports to be a translation into English verse from the original Chronicle or Passionary stated by him to be preserved in the Monastery. He makes frequent allusions to the Venerable Bede (whom he styles his author), as also to “Master Alfrydus, William Malmsburge, Gyrarde, Polycronycon, and other mo(re).”
St. Werburgh was born about 650, and was the daughter of Wulfhere, King of Mercia (whose name is perpetuated in Wolverhampton) and Ermenhild his wife. She was thus descended from four royal families. Her father was the second son of Penda, King of Mercia, who claimed descent from Woden. Her mother was the daughter of Earconbert, King of Kent, and was thus a descendant both of Tytillus, King of East Anglia, and of St. Edwin, King of Northumbria. She was also connected with the kings of France, as St. Ermenhild’s grandfather and great-grandfather both married princesses of that royal house. We may say that she was of saintly as well as of royal lineage, for five of her grandfather Penda’s children (pagan though he himself was) earned the title of saints; whilst her mother’s family included the names of St. Hilda, St. Etheldreda, St. Ethelburga, and St. Sexburga (her mother).
Wulfhere and his queen chiefly lived at Stone in Staffordshire, where St. Werburgh, under the care of her good mother, grew up. Bradshaw gives a very interesting picture of her early years, in which her religious disposition, fostered no doubt by her mother’s influence and example, manifested itself in various ways. Thus:—
“First in the morning to church she would go,
Following her mother the queene every day,
With her boke and bedes, and depart not them fro,
Hear all divine service and her devocyons say:
And to our Blessed Saviour, mekely on her knees pray,
Daily Him desiring, for His endless grace and pity,
To keep her from sin, and preserve her in chastity.”
She was an only daughter having three brothers. She listened with earnest attention to every word of instruction and advice; abjured giddy pleasures; and found her truest joy in contemplation of heavenly things, and holiest bliss arising from a pure conscience, chastened by fasting and sanctified by prayer.
Bradshaw gives a full description of her young days, and fondly lingers over the narration of her virtues. She attracted many suitors, but courteously dismissed them all. Among these was the Prince of the West Saxons, who made offer of marriage and of all his worldly goods:—
“Landes, rentes, and libertees all at your pleasure;
Servantes every hour, your byddynge for to do,
With ladyes in your chambre to wayte on you also.”
She gently but firmly declines, saying:—
“But now I shewe you playnly my true mynde,
My purpose was never maryed for to be;
A lorde I have chosen, Redeemer of Mankynde
Jhesu the Second Persone in Trynyte
To be my Spouse.”
The suit of Warbode, a powerful knight and chief steward in her father’s household, was attended with disastrous results. He had gained an evil influence over King Wulfhere, and induced him, if not to become an actual apostate, to adopt a distinctly hostile attitude to Christianity. When his suit, though favoured by his master, is declined by St. Werburgh, he retires in wrath and plots revenge. He poisons the King’s mind, and persuades him that his sons Wulfade and Ruffyn are plotting against him, leads him into the forest, where they are found in St. Chad’s cell being instructed by the good Bishop in the Christian faith; and then in his blind rage the King slays them both, and rushes back to his castle. No sooner did he return than he was seized with sore pains, the mark of God’s vengeance. Stung with remorse, he repented of his apostasy; repaired to St. Chad; professed his contrition; promised to destroy all idols and temples in his realm and to build monasteries; and founded the Abbey of Peterborough and a priory at Stone—
“To the honour of God, and these martyrs twayne.”
And now St. Werburgh begs her father to be allowed to become “a religious,” and to enter the Abbey of Ely, where her great-aunt, St. Etheldreda (or Awdry) was the Abbess. Wulfhere is reluctant and slow to consent, but at length he yields; and, when the matter was once settled, does his part nobly.
After her year of probation, St. Werburgh made her holy profession with great solemnity, and her biographer holds her up to the women of his day as an example of virtue and humility.
On the death of Wulfhere, his widow, Ermenhild, herself repaired to the convent of Ely, where her mother, St. Sexburga, had succeeded her sister, St. Etheldreda, as Abbess, and vied with her daughter in piety and devotion. Wulfhere was succeeded as king by his brother, Ethelred, to whom, according to Giraldus Cambrensis, is due the building in 689 of the Monastery of St. John the Baptist in Chester. Ethelred fully appreciated his niece’s character, and, seeing her holy conversation, made her Lady and President at Weedon, Trentham, and Hanbury, thus making her ruler of the nuns within his realm. He himself also took the vows and became a monk, resigning the crown to his nephew, Cenred, St. Werburgh’s brother, who, after a short reign of five years, followed his uncle’s example; went to Rome the year of grace 708, and was “professed to Saint Benette’s religion,” and “frome this lyfe transitory, with vertu departed to eternal glory.”
Bradshaw goes on to describe “the gostly devocion of Saynt Werburge, and vertuous governans of her places,” and, if the chronicler is to be trusted, she showed a marvellous capacity for ruling her abbeys. Her behaviour and character is thus described:—
“She was a minister rather than a mistress,
Her great pre-eminence caused no presumpcion,
Serving her systers with humble subjection.
. . . . .
Piteous and merciful and full of charity
To the poor people in their necessity.
. . . . .
She never commanded systers to do anything
But it was fulfilled in her own doing.”
Even from these short extracts we can readily gather what a gentle, lovable personage she must have been, and how in all her relations of life she manifested a truly humble and Christian spirit. Her life was mainly spent between Weedon, Trentham, Repton, and Hanbury, and we can imagine what a gracious influence she exercised upon the religious houses there and their occupants, and so upon the surrounding neighbourhoods. It was at Trentham that she died, enjoining, however, that her body should rest at Hanbury. When she felt her end approaching she gave directions as to her successors and officers in the monasteries, and as to how their affairs should be conducted in the future; then, calling the sisters round her, she gave them her last exhortation, to live in temperance, obedience, and love, recited the Creed, received the Blessed Sacrament, and—
“The third day of February ye may be sure,
Expired from this life, caduce and transitory,
To eternal blyss, coronate with victory,
Changing her lyfe, miserable and thrall,
For infinite joy, and glory eternal.”
This was probably in the year 699. The people of Trentham buried her in that place, watching over the body lest it should be removed. However, the people of Hanbury came, and, a deep sleep having fallen upon the watchers, were enabled to carry the body safely to Hanbury, where it was interred in the chancel. Nine years afterwards, in the summer of 708, it was moved from the grave to a duly prepared shrine with great pomp, in the presence of her cousin King Ceolred and the bishops and the clergy. Here, says the chronicler, the body remained whole and substantial “for nearly 200 years, till the coming of the pagan Danes,” when “it was resolved and fell to powder lest the wicked miscreants with impious hands should dare to touch it.”
It was in 875, to save the remains from such violation, that the people of Hanbury were inspired to bring them to Chester, as the Danes, having destroyed Weedon and Trentham, had come as far as Repton. It was then that—
“The relique, the Shryne full memorative,
Was brought to Chestre for our consolacion,
Reverently receyved, set with devocion
In the mouther Church of Saint Peter and Paule
(As afore is sayd) a place most principall.”
A full description is given of the solemn reception of the shrine and its treasured contents, and also of the gifts wherewith rich and poor vied with each other to enrich it.[70] The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul was probably somewhere on the site of the present cathedral. Ethelfleda, daughter of King Alfred, built a separate minster to St. Werburgh, joining it to the east end of the older church. This building (rebuilt, we are told, by Leofric, Earl of Chester) gave place to the Norman structure of Hugh Lupus, in the erection of which he was assisted by the advice of St. Anselm. But through all these changes and vicissitudes the name of St. Werburgh was associated with the dedication of the church, and her shrine found its home there.
[70] According to the Ely Book (Liber Eliensis) the relics were brought to the Abbey of Ely (Wall’s Shrines of British Saints). Certain portions of them may have been carried to either place, or there may be some confusion as to the name.
The shrine was no doubt visited by pilgrims from all parts, and as time went on was adorned and beautified. The shrine proper was a box or receptacle in which the relics of the saint were deposited, and was often made of the most splendid and costly materials, and enriched with jewels in profusion.
Bradshaw speaks of this portable shrine as “a riall relique” (royal relic), and also tells of the “many riall gyftes of jewels to the shrine.” It was carried about in processions and in times of danger and emergency, and was “set on the towne walles for help and tuicion”; to save Chester from the attacks of the Welsh; and again,
“The devout Chanons sette the holy Shryne
Agaynst their enemies at the sayd Northgate,”
“when innumerable barbarik nations purposed to disstroye and spoyle the city.” Similarly we are told “howe in 1180 a great fire, like to destroye all Chestre, by myracle ceased when the holy shryne was borne about the towne by the monkes.” As various miracles were ascribed to her agency in her lifetime, so now her relics were regarded as powerful instruments in warding off evil whether from individuals or the community at large. The shrine would be visited by suppliants from every quarter, who would invoke the aid of the Saint to remedy their various ills. For the portable shrine a suitable resting-place would be erected, one probably giving place to another as successive generations altered the style and character of the building. Round this stately and elaborate structure would be places where the suppliants could kneel, and also receptacles for the offerings which their piety and gratitude inspired. Of the earlier structures no trace remains, but the fifteenth century one has in recent years been placed at the west end of the Lady Chapel of the Cathedral, as being probably near the spot where it originally stood. At the foundation of the See, and up till 1870, the lower portion formed the base of the Bishop’s Throne, the crown being lowered so as to form the balustrade in front of the Bishop’s seat. In this adaptation certain stones were removed, and were built up in the wall which enclosed the staircase which led from the Bishop’s study directly into the Cathedral. In removing this staircase in 1885 these stones were discovered, and have again been placed on the shrine, which is thus restored to its original proportions. The shrine was adorned with canopied niches, in which were sculptured figures bearing their names on scrolls, representing the Kings and Saints of the Mercian kingdom.
It will be gathered from what has been said that though Saint Werburgh probably spent no portion of her life in Cheshire, yet she was for more than seven hundred years associated in men’s minds with the county, inasmuch as her shrine had its home in Chester. In those days she would be looked upon as a Cheshire Saint, and from far and near religious pilgrims would come to say their devotions and to tender their offerings at her shrine in the Church which was dedicated to God’s service in her name. We are therefore justified in speaking of her under this heading. And she has left her name in the county in other ways. Nine churches in England (six of them in the old kingdom of Mercia) are dedicated in her name. One of these is in Cheshire at Warburton, Werburgh town. That place gave its name to an honoured Cheshire family, which has given its scions to the service of their country in many directions, and which still holds a position of high renown and esteem in the county. We may thus legitimately term St. Werburgh a Cheshire Saint. We cannot do better than follow her favourite precept and common saying: “Please God and love Him, and doubt not anything.”
The other subject of our paper is St. Plegmund, to many perhaps an unknown name, though he rose to a high position, and must have exercised a wide and beneficent influence on Church and State both in his own day and for succeeding generations. He, like St. Werburgh, was a native of Mercia, though we cannot give his birthplace or his parentage. But we can connect him very closely with the county and with the neighbourhood of Chester, where his name is still preserved in the name of a parish, that of Plemstall. This has been variously written at different times, as Plegmundstall, Plegmondesham, &c. It was here, in fact, that he established himself as a hermit in an Isle of Chester; for though Plemstall is no longer an island, it has been clearly shown that in earlier times the locality would justify such description.
Plegmund was born in troublous times about the middle of the ninth century. The Danes had overrun the land, destroyed the monasteries, the only places of learning, and driven the monks from their books. Some there were, however, who determined, in spite of all difficulties, to pursue their studies and to pray in solitude for better times, and of these Plegmund was one. He had very probably been a monk, though this cannot be said with certainty. At any rate he adopted the hermit’s life, and set up his stall or habitation at Plemstall, then doubtless an island amid fens and marshes, and by its situation affording a place of safety in times of disorder and unrest. His lonely dwelling, of which no trace remains, may have been on the site of the present church or a short distance away, and nearer to the well which still bears his name. Here he lived the hermit’s life; but we must remember, as Dean Hook tells us, that a hermit was not an anchorite. The latter never quitted his cell, but was an absolute recluse. The hermit was a more independent character; he moved about as occasion demanded. If he had a settled abode he would go to places of resort near at hand, and by his preaching seek to benefit the wayfarers who might be passing by.
We can imagine therefore St. Plegmund paying his frequent visits to the neighbouring city, only three or four miles distant, taking up his position at one or other of its gates (for it was surrounded by its Roman walls, and though then “waste” must have had some inhabitants), and instructing out of his laboriously-acquired learning those who were willing to pause and listen to his discourse. The anxious inquirer might return with him to his island home and, after further preparation as a catechumen, receive the grace of Holy Baptism at the well above referred to. His supply of books or manuscripts would be but small. The Bible of course was his constant companion, and it has been suggested with confidence that Boethius’ De Consolatione Philosophiæ would certainly be one of his treasures. This treatise was afterwards translated by King Alfred, a task in which Plegmund may have helped him. There is in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, a copy (the oldest in existence) of the Saxon Chronicle, said to have been translated by Plegmund, for which assertion there is internal evidence of an indirect nature. This, however, was probably done after he left this neighbourhood; but the fact may be taken as showing what his powers were, and what a diligent student he must have been, especially when we consider the scanty materials which would be at his service. He must have acquired some reputation for his learning, and his fame reached the ears of King Alfred, who sent for him to his Court to act as his adult tutor. There he would find Grimbald, Werefrid, Asser, and others, and with them would be associated with the monarch in the promotion of learning and in furthering the best interests of the nation.
We speak of the king as “Alfred the Great,” but then he was known as “England’s Darling.” Alfred came to the crown in 872, and died in 900. How soon after his accession he summoned Plegmund to his side to be his tutor and instructor we cannot say, but that the relations between them were very close and intimate and mutually advantageous, we can have no doubt. In the year 890 the see of Canterbury was vacant, and, having been declined by Grimbald, was offered by the King to Plegmund, a step which was received with general approbation, for the entry in the Saxon Chronicle runs thus: “This year 890 Plegmund was chosen of God and of all the people Archbishop of Canterbury.” Plegmund was consecrated at Rome by Pope Formosus, but as some doubt and discredit was thrown upon the actions of this pontiff, he paid a second visit to Rome, and was re-consecrated by Pope Stephen, thus submitting to a rite of more than questionable propriety. He cordially seconded the King in his endeavours to establish a learned priesthood. Some justification has been alleged for the fact that several sees and posts were for a time kept vacant, in the consideration that men of sufficient learning and education were not to be found for them. At anyrate Plegmund, scholar and theologian as he was, did all that lay in his power to remove the reproach which was fastening upon the Church that it had an ignorant and illiterate clergy.
In conjunction with the King, he published The Pastoral Care of Gregory the Great, a copy of which was sent to every English bishop, with a noteworthy preface from the King himself, in which the sovereign acknowledged what he had “learned of Plegmund my Archbishop, and of Asser my bishop, and of Grimbald my presbyter, and of John my presbyter.” It is interesting to know that the copy addressed to Plegmund is still preserved, as well as those addressed to the Bishops of Worcester and Sherborne. It is reasonable to conclude from this that Alfred would find in his Archbishop a zealous assistant in all his efforts to promote sound and religious learning, and that the two would heartily co-operate in endeavours to secure an educated clergy. Whether he ever visited the scene of his former labours, it is impossible to say; but the late Mr. Thomas Hughes, F.S.A., in a fancied description of the laying of the foundation of St. John’s, Chester, writes thus: “First there were Ethelred and Ethelfleda, the joint founders—near them might stand their Royal Ward, Athelstan, the Etheling, heir to his father’s throne. Prominent among the group would be Plegmund, the Archbishop of Canterbury, a native of Mercia, and but a few years before a modest recluse at the hermitage in that island of Chester.” We cannot give a detailed account of Plegmund’s episcopate, which lasted for twenty-four years; but we are sure that, as he assisted his royal master when at his Court and before he became Archbishop in promoting learning amongst his people, so in the higher position and with the larger opportunities he must have done the like. Himself a student, he knew the advantages of learning, and would be anxious to make them as widespread as possible.
Alfred is looked upon as the founder of the University of Oxford, or of University College, its first hall, and we can understand how in that work, in the conception as well as in the performance of it, the advice and counsel of his own tutor, Plegmund, would be most valuable. During his pontificate the West Saxon Episcopate was sub-divided, and the number of sees thereby increased, a clear indication of his vigorous and strenuous rule. In 909 on the same day no fewer than seven bishops were consecrated by Plegmund, three of them for newly-founded sees, and one of these for the extreme west in Devonshire. This was for Kirton, identified as Crediton, and it is interesting to note that the millenary of the consecration of Eadulf as the first bishop of Crediton has just been celebrated at that place. On that occasion the Bishop of Bristol (Dr. G. F. Browne), who is an eminent historian, gave a most instructive address, referring specially to the work of Plegmund, and to an earlier Saint connected with Crediton, S. Boniface. It was probably owing to that connection that Crediton was chosen as the seat of the Bishops of Devonshire, a position it retained for more than a hundred and fifty years. The Archbishop of Canterbury was also present on the occasion, and expressed the hope that the work they were doing now, the things they were now starting, and the works they were taking in hand, might give as good cause to people a thousand years hence to thank God and take courage, as was given a thousand years ago to them by Plegmund and the seven Bishops of whom they had heard that day. Plegmund died on July 23, 914, and was buried in the Cathedral of Canterbury. No likeness of him has been left, not even on the coins which bear his name. His life in Cheshire must have been singularly quiet, and yet we cannot doubt that he was thereby nerved and braced for the battle of life, and fitted for the arduous duties of the high position to which he was afterwards called.
Allusion has been made to St. Plegmund’s Well. It is interesting to know that whilst it bore this title in very early deeds, it has for generations been designated “the Christening Well,” as the water for the Font for Holy Baptism was drawn from it. Moreover, in the old churchwardens’ accounts of the parish, mention is made of an annual payment made to the clerk for cleaning out this well, and keeping it free from weeds. There was some danger of the well being overlooked, as it is very much overhung by bushes in the hedge at the back of it. The original stone work at the side and bottom had decayed. In the autumn of 1908 a new curb and back were erected at the expense of Mr. Osborne Aldis, and dedicated on November 10th, when a goodly congregation assembled, and after a short service in the church, when the story of St. Plegmund was unfolded, proceeded to the well where the dedicatory prayers were said. On the stone-work the following couplet is carved:—
“Hic fons Plegmundi functus baptismatis usu
Regnante Alfredo tunc hodieque solet.”
This may be freely translated as follows:—
“Here as in days when Alfred erst was king
Baptismal water flows from Plegmund’s spring.”
It is hoped that by this restoration of the well the memory of S. Plegmund may be preserved: and it is not improbable that the ceremony of dressing the well, not uncommon in the adjoining county of Derbyshire, may be adopted as a village festival on July 23rd, the day of St. Plegmund’s death.
Note.—The preceding chapter embodies the substance of two papers by the same writer, read before Meetings of the Chester and North Wales Archæological and Historic Society.