| Where: | Holywell, Flintshire, Wales at the Church on Well Street and St Winefride's Well |
| When: | Sunday nearest 22nd June |
| Time: | 2.30 pm |
According to legend,when St Winefride’s head landed on the ground as the rejected lustful villain Caradoc smote it from her neck with his sword, a spring of pure water gushed forth, which is the origin of the holy well on the site at Holywell. Winefride was miraculously restored to life and went on to become a nun; her shrine has been a place of pilgrimage and healing for centuries and is believed to be the only one to have a record of pilgrimage of over 1000 years in the UK. The saint’s feast day is June 22nd and each year on the Sunday nearest, a Pilgrimage takes place from the Church to the Well, followed by veneration of her Relics and blessing of the sick. Expect a procession of clergy and dignitaries, and families with very smartly turned out children.
Helpful Hints
In 2024 it should be on Sunday June 23rd.
St Winefride’s Well may be visited all year around (see link for details) – bottles for the holy water may be purchased on site or you can fill your own container. Bathing in the healing waters is available at set times but not on the day of the Pilgrimage. Food & drink are available on site. Admission is free on Pilgrimage Day but of course donations may be made.
Click here for the Well website: https://www.stwinefridesshrine.org/
When will well be open today is 14th March 2020
Hi Teresa,
I’ve just checked the Shrine website and there’s no change there from 23rd March, when they announced that the whole Shrine site would be closed until further notice. If you scroll down a bit further, it says that when there are updates, that’s where they will be announced so you’ll just need to keep checking the page at http://www.saintwinefrideswell.com until they share their re-opening plans. Sorry I can’t be more help!
Averil