St Edburga

There were two early English saints with this name.

Saint Edburga of Bicester died around 650. She was a nun and probably an abbess. The base of a shrine dedicated to her can still be seen in the church at Stanton Harcourt in Oxfordshire.

Her namesake, Saint Edburga of Winchester, lived 300 years later. She was a daughter of Edward the Elder, King of Wessex and grand daughter of King Alfred the Great. She became a nun at the Abbey of St Mary's in Winchester and was known for her gentle and kind nature. A cult formed around her after her death, celebrated particularly in Wessex and Westminster. Pilgrims flocked to her shrine at Pershore Abbey until the Reformation.