Saint
Ethelbert's Well
He came to marry. A spring marks where he fell.
See it clearly
- What's there
- Riverside church with holy well inside
- Legend from
- Anglo-Saxon, 8th century
- Tone
- Dark history
Where the murdered king's body lay by the river, a spring of fresh water rose.
In AD 794 King Ethelbert of the East Angles came to Marden to marry the daughter of King Offa of Mercia. As he approached, he was seized and beheaded, and his body was dumped on the banks of the River Lugg. Tradition says a miraculous spring of fresh water rose where the body lay. Offa, filled with remorse, asked Pope Adrian I what to do and was told to build a church over the spot. The church at Marden encloses the holy spring, now a well, which can still be seen in the vestry. Ethelbert was later moved to Hereford Cathedral and became its patron saint.