Alkelda

St. Alkelda's church, Giggleswick

Saint Alkelda (Old English: Hǣlcelde, "healing spring"; died on March 28, c. 800), also spelt Alcelda or Alchhild, was an Anglo-Saxon princess of whom almost nothing is known and whose existence has been questioned.^[1]

The legend is that she was an Anglo-Saxon princess,^[2] and probably also a nun, who was strangled by pagan Viking women during Danish raids of about 800 at Middleham in Yorkshire. She is patron of the church at Giggleswick and also of that of Middleham, the church there having a holy well, but of no others. She may have also been an abbess of a monastery at Middleham.

Church of Saints Mary and Alkelda, Middleham,

This area is known for its many springs, some very near the sites of these churches, and there is no documentary reference to this saint until the late Middle Ages, so it has been surmised that the name Alkelda is in fact simply a corruption of the Anglo-Saxon haligkelda, meaning holy spring.^[3]

However this has been contested,^[4] with claims she may actually have been Icelandic, from Ölkelda Iceland and her reputation brought to north England by Vikings caused her to be associated with holy springs, such as Giggleswick.^[5]

Her feast day is 28 March.

External links

• Account of Saint Alkelda from Giggleswick church
• Description of Saint Alkelda's Well at Middleham

References

1. "Middleham". Jervaulx Churches. Retrieved 30 October 2010. (quoting William Grainge (mid 19th century)
2. Blair, John (2002), "A Handlist of Anglo-Saxon Saints", in Thacker, Alan; Sharpe, Richard, Local Saints and Local Churches in the Early Medieval West, Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.511.
3. Secret Britain, published by the Automobile Association, January 1987. ISBN 978-0-86145-435-8
4. Northcravenheritage.org.uk
5. northcravenheritage.org.uk