page_title: Urith
section_title: Veneration
hierarchical_section_title: Urith / Veneration
caption_attribution_description: English: Drawing of window in St Mary's parish church, South Walsham, Norfolk, England representing Saint Urith
context_page_description: Urith, was a Brythonic maiden from the Westcountry who was martyred, possibly in the early 8th century, and subsequently revered as a saint. The name is still common in the English county of Devon. Her feast day is 8 July and her shrine is located in the North Devon village of Chittlehampton.
context_section_description: Saint Urith's holy well still stands at the east end of Chittlehampton, now called by the corrupt name of Taddy Well or Saint Teara's Well. Many of the pilgrims were sufferers of eye disease who came to anoint themselves with the holy water. There are still two stone crosses in the parish which may have been guideposts to the shrine. The exact burial place of Saint Urith was probably in the small chapel on the north side of the sanctuary of the parish church, which originally contained an image of the saint. This chapel now doubles as a passage leading to a vestry. There is reason to believe that a medieval slab there may still cover Saint Urith's body. There was a regular pilgrimage to her shrine on her feast day, 8 July, until 1539. Offerings left there were sufficient to rebuild the church tower, reputedly the finest in Devon. Even in the last year of pilgrimages, the vicar received £50 from his share of the offerings. This was three times his income from tithes and glebe. By 1540 the saint's statue had been removed from the church. The pulpit of the church, carved around 1500, survives and this depicts Urith holding a martyr's palm and the foundation stone of the church. A modern statue now stands in a niche high up on the exterior of the tower and she is also shown in a stained-glass window of the 16th century found at Nettlecombe in Somerset.
  Continuing the tradition, the pilgrimage has now been revived and villagers still celebrate the legend on her feast day, with a procession to the well. The Trinity College hymn is sung by the congregation, the well is opened and water drawn from it and blessed.
caption: drawing of window in St Mary's Church, South Walsham, Norfolk England depicting Saint Urith.
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