Advertisement New WaysNew Ways Would you like to advertise on ICN? Click to learn more.

St Whyte

  • Celebrated on

Saint Of The Day

This early British saint gave her name to, and is buried at Whitechurch Canonicorum, in Dorset. Her modest shrine, together with that of Edward the Confessor, in Westminster Abbey, are among the few pre-Norman Conquest tombs to survive intact in England to this day. (There is also the tomb of the Saxon St Bertolin in Ilam, Staffordshire.)

Very little is known about St Whyte. She is sometimes also called St Candida. Some historians think she was a West Saxon, others say she may have been the Welsh saint Gwen, whose relics were given by St Athelstan to this church.

William Worcestre and John Gerard both mention her relics. St Thomas More referred to the custom of offering cakes or cheese on her feast day.

In 1990 her leaden coffin was opened. It was inscribed: Hic requiescunt reliquie Sancte Wite, and contained the bones of a small woman about 40 years old.

One local tradition identifies St Whyte as a Saxon holy woman who lived as a hermit on the cliffs, possibly lighting beacons to guide sailors. She may have been killed by Danish pirates during a raid. St Whyte's well, probably her fresh water supply, is still there and the water has always been claimed to have healing properties, especially for eyes.

Reader Andrew Scadding writes: "I went to visit St Whyte the year before covid struck. Whitchurch Canonicorum is a quiet and English place whose people simply ignored the Protestant revolution and kept their local saint safe, bless them. After I visited I discovered that one of my ancestors was from there. What your article does not mention is that the Saint's shrine is constructed with circular apertures below the stone sarcophagus so that pilgrims could put their hands inside the tomb to feel the bottom of the sarcophagus. Not only that, but the tomb is on the north wall of the church with similar apertures on the north wall so that people excluded from the church - such as lepers, for example - could reach in to seek healing by the Saint. Trip Advisor does not rate its success, so far as I know, but nor are there any recorded complaints."

Mobile Menu Toggle Icon