Q: Augusta (Burwell) Arthur from Virginia, USA: "I am an American (with at least some Welsh ancestry), looking for information on St Tegla and/or her well and church, reportedly lying halfway between Wrexham and Ruthin. Can anybody help?"
your comments
Wil, Wrexham.
Hello Dave Moore from Wirral. I like your style, "Wrexham near Llandegla". That'll put the city-status seekers in their place. Reminds me of my daughter being shown a photo of a truly great local peace-seeking priest with the Pope. "Who is that with Father H*******, Dad?"
Wed Oct 1 14:56:53 2008
Dave Moore from Wirral
St Tegla's well is in Llandegla, north Wales. Yale (the Yale who gave his name to that university - was proposed by Cotton Mather whose father Richard came from ancient chapel of Toxteth, Aigburth, Liverpool, and who was involved with Salem witch trials). Yale's family came from Llandegla. They went to America, where Yale was born but returned to Britain. Yale was involved with east India company - see Peasbody museum in Salem. Yale is buried in Wrexham near Llandegla.
Mon Aug 11 13:28:38 2008
Barbara Jones from nr Warrington
I was told about this saint about 10 years ago, and was taken to see the well by a very old local lady. She told me that you had to walk round the well 3 times and then round the church 3 times - while reciting the Lord's Prayer - and carrying the chicken - you had to sleep with the chicken on the altar overnight and your ills would be transferred to it - no mention of any cruelty to the chicken though!
Thu Jul 24 10:52:34 2008
Lauren Gledhill from Llandegla
Church of St Tegla and St Tegla's Holy Well Directions. Ffynnon Tegla (the holy well) is now hard to find, and on private land. Starting from the church (and after asking permission at Mill Farm) go through the aluminium gate to the right of the new row of cottages, past farm buildings, and then over a stile by the next gate: bear right off the footpath and walk across a field towards the stream until you reach a low bank. Turn left along this bank to find the unobtrusive well – a sunken stone trough – between the bank and the stream. The neat church of St Tegla was entirely rebuilt in 1866, but retains its old font and a quite outstanding medieval brass chandelier, probably made in Bruges (Belgium) in about 1500. It has twelve elaborately branched and foliaged arms, with a beast-head ring below and a crowned image of the Virgin Mary above. Like a similar chandelier at neighbouring Llanarmon (Site 26) it is said to have come from Valle Crucis Abbey. The chandelier hangs before a truly remarkable Georgian window, originally made in 1800 for St Asaph Cathedral. On painted (rather than stained) glass, it depicts a youthful Jesus contemplating a vision of his future Crucifixion, enacted by a bevy of chubby cherubs. Most remarkable still is the story of St Tegla's holy well, by a river Alun just outside the village. According to a document written in the 2nd century, the saint was a female disciple of St Paul, who lived at Iconium (Konya in modern Turkey): renowned for her healing powers, she was eventually martyred at the age of 90. Quite how this person came to be honoured in Denbighshire is unknown, but the Welsh Tegla was likewise famous for healing, through the waters of her well here, the sickness called 'Clwyf Tegla', or epilepsy. Sufferers performed a complex ritual which included bathing in the well, walking round it three times carrying a chicken (a hen for a woman, a cockerel for a man) and sleeping under the church altar (with the chicken) using the Bible as a pillow. Pins driven into the bird were cast into the well, and finally its beak was put into the patient's mouth. The epileptic fits were thus transferred to the chicken, which (not surprisingly) staggered about to confirm the cure. Though condemned by the church authorities, these rites were allegedly often successful, continuing until at least 1813. St Tegla's Well is still honoured annually on her feast day in September. Its never-failing spring provided fresh water during a drought in 1921, and when excavated in 1935 produced many pins, coins and other offerings.
Fri Jan 5 09:58:58 2007
