St Wyllow (St Olaf's church, Poughill) 1914

Wyllow was a Cornish

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

saint and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

whose existence was reported by

William Worcester William Worcester, also called William of Worcester, William Worcestre or William Botoner (1415) was an English topographer, antiquary and chronicler. Life He was a son of another William of Worcester, a Bristol whittawer (worker in white leather ...

. He was said to have been born in Ireland but worked in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

. He was reputedly

behead Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

ed by Melyn ys Kynrede ("Melyn's kinfolk") in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

of Lanteglos, near Fowey. Supposedly, he then carried his head for half a mile to St Willow's Bridge, where a church was later built in his honour. Nicholas Roscarrock gives his feast day as 3 June. He is still commemorated in

, with the 15th century St. Wyllow's

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

. built by Thomas Mohun at

Lanteglos-by-Fowey Lanteglos (Old kw, Nant Eglos, meaning ''church valley'') is a coastal civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the east side of the tidal estuary of the River Fowey which separates it from the town and civil parish of ...

. He is also known as Vylloc and his dates of birth and death are unknown, though it is likely that he lived in the 6th century. St. Willow is regarded as the

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of Lanteglos.The Celtic Christianity of Cornwall: Divers Sketches and Studies; by Thomas Taylor
(Longmans, Green and Co.. 1916)

References

6th-century Christian martyrs 6th-century executions Executed Irish people Medieval Irish saints of Cornwall Cephalophores 6th-century Irish people Medieval Cornish saints Irish expatriates in England Irish people executed abroad Executed Cornish people Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown English hermits {{Cornwall-stub

See also

References