Saint
St Faith's Floating Offerings
Toss in your gift: if it floats, your prayer is granted; if it sinks, refused.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- The church; the holy well is lost
- Legend from
- Medieval
- Tone
- Curious
Ahead is Hexton, whose lost holy well once told pilgrims whether their prayers would be granted, depending on whether their offering sank or floated.
Hexton once had a holy well dedicated to St Faith, known chiefly from the account of the man who destroyed it. Francis Taverner, the staunchly Protestant 17th-century lord of the manor, scornfully described a clear, stone-curbed well about a yard deep and a shrine with a statue of the saint, whose toe pilgrims reverently kissed. Visitors cast offerings into the water: if the gift floated, their petition was granted; if it sank, it was refused. Taverner hinted that the priests could rig the result according to the size of the offering. He wiped out the well so thoroughly that its site can no longer be found.