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Saint in our Midst
After her death in AD743, the body was interred in a grave within the grounds of the convent but subsequently moved approximately 55 years later; it is said that when her saintly remains were exhumed, they had not undergone any process of decay. And so she was laid to rest in the consecrated ground of St Nicholas Church which she had built some years earlier. The tomb then became a holy shrine and a place of pilgrimage for many. This was, however, not to be her final resting place.
The Bishop of Ely was envious of the financial gain that the pilgrims brought to Dereham and its people, and decreed that her body should be stolen and re-buried alongside her sisters. And so after tricking the people of the town into partaking of a hearty feast, monks broke in to the tomb whilst the Dereham folk slept off their indulgences, and snatched her remains.
St Withburga, the youngest of the three daughters of Anna, King of East Anglia, was believed to have settled in Dereham during the seventh century, where she established a convent. Legend has it that during construction of the holy order, the workers were fed on only dry bread and St Withburga asked the Holy Virgin for help.
A vision told her to send her workers to a local well and there they would find three does; these would provide her workmen with fresh milk and sustinence to finish their task. The local overseer was suspicisious and jealous of St Withburga and her miracles and ordered the deer to be hunted down and slain. The man received poetic justice when he was reputedly thrown from his horse and broke his neck in the fall. This tale is depicted in the sign that sits proudly above the approach from the High Street in Dereham into the Market Place.
The water, which is said to have healing qualities, and the tomb itself, is still regarded as a place of
pilgrimage today
Despite efforts to pursue the perpetrators when they realised what had taken place, the people of Dereham were slowed in their pursuit by the Fenland marshes and the body was subsequently re-interred in Ely as the Bishop had planned. On returning home the dispirited men visited her empty tomb only to find that a spring had sprung where her body had lain; this was interpreted as yet another miracle from their Saint. The water, which is said to have healing qualities, and the tomb itself, is still regarded as a place of pilgrimage today and although the body of St Withburga lies elsewhere, her blessings and powers have reached from beyond the grave.
Today it is surrounded by wrought iron gates, and is a wonderful place for prayer or quiet reflection. Although the tomb has been violated, there is most certainly still something of an air of the miraculous about St Withburga’s Well just as there must have been for the people of Dereham and its pilgrims, all those years ago.
Town & About 2010 17
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