Where is st winifred well

Please adhere to Welsh Government social distancing guidelines and coronavirus restrictions at all times and do not attempt to access enclosed spaces. The chapel itself dates from the late 15th century. On the bottom floor, the spring water bubbles up into a star-shaped basin beneath an elaborately vaulted ceiling before flowing out into a more recent outdoor pool, where pilgrims still visit to bathe in its waters with their claimed healing properties.

Access to the chapel is down a flight of steps, along a short level path and then up a couple of steps to the main door. Site guidebook available to purchase online and in selected visitor centres. Cadw do not allow drone flying from or over its guardianship sites, except by contractors commissioned for a specific purpose, who satisfy stringent CAA criteria, have the correct insurances and are operating under controlled conditions.

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Sign up below to select from a variety of topics. Overview Opening times Prices Facilities Directions Visitor notice This monument is open to visit with no booking required. Daily 10am—4pm Last admission 30 minutes before closing Closed 25 and 26 December. Category Price Admission Free.

No admission charge to visit the chapel. The chapel is locked. Please collect the key from the curator at the Visitor Centre. The story of the relics being taken to Shrewsbury forms the basis of Ellis Peter's novel, 'A Morbid Taste for Bones', the first in her series of Brother Cadfael mysteries.

It is no exaggeration to say that St Winefride's Well has been a destination for pilgrims for over years, a span unmatched by any other British site. This long history as a place of pilgrimage has led Holywell to become known as the Lourdes of Wales. The well is contained within a beautiful early 16th-century building in Perpendicular Gothic style. This beautiful structure has a bathing pool within a star-shaped inner chamber, joined to a more modern rectangular bathing pool for pilgrims.

In the inner pool is St Bueno's Stone, taken from the nearby streambed. Look up at the vaulted canopy over the pool; it was erected by Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, and carries elaborate carvings of Tudor family symbols.

Carvings depicting St Winifred are everywhere; one large carving is set on the ceiling, showing the saint with a staff and a crown upon her head.

The earliest written records of pilgrimages date to the 12th century, when pilgrims claimed healing from illness after bathing in the waters of the well. Among the treasures on display in the museum are wooden crutches thrown aside by pilgrims after healing.

Most visitors focus on the holy well and shrine, and that's understandable, but they miss a real historical treat; above the well rises a late 15th-century chapel, nominally in the care of CADW, but the key is kept at the holy well reception desk in the museum.

The chapel is really the 'above ground' part of the holy well structure; while the crypt provides a vaulted chamber over the well pool itself, the upper floors provide a chapel with a nave, north aisle, and apse.

It is well worth exploring the chapel, especially for the exceptional corbel head carvings in the aisle. Look for the carved wooden head of a man sticking his tongue out. At least 6 royal visitors have come to Holywell over the centuries. Perhaps the most famous visit was by Henry V in Henry came to give thanks for his victory at Agincourt the previous year.

He famously went on foot from Shrewsbury Abbey to Holywell as an act of reverence. In Edward IV of England came on pilgrimage. According to an account by the Welsh poet Tudor Aled, the king took earth from beside the well and placed it upon his crown.

An account written years later says that the priests at the well gave the king the shift a slip or chemise worn by Mary, Queen of Scots to her execution. Mary, of course, was the king's great-grandmother. And finally, the most recent royal visit came in , when HRH The Duchess of Gloucester came to the well and visited the museum.

Visitors access the holy well through the museum, which has been created from a Victorian house built for the site custodian. I'm not usually one for museums, being more interested in the actual historic site; I came to Holywell to see the shrine and the chapel, but I was completely hooked on the site museum before I even got to the holy well.

The operators have done an extremely good job of telling the story of Winefride and her life, and how the holy well developed over time. It is an engrossing tale, and the museum really does add to the experience of visiting this wonderful historic site. Most photos are available for licensing, please contact Britain Express image library. Heritage Rated from 1- 5 low-exceptional on historic interest.

Basingwerk Abbey - 1 miles Abbey. Mostyn Hall - 3. The building consists of two floors. The well-chamber is open on the downhill northern side, while there is level access from the south into the chapel above. A copious spring of clear water rises in a central basin in the shape of a truncated eight-pointed star, with steps in the front for access by the sick. The water flows away beneath the surrounding walkway into a more recent swimming pool.