St Swithun

Yesterday was St. Swithun's day, patron saint of Winchester. Swithun was Bishop of Winchester from 852-862. The only known miracle he performed during his life was to put back together some broken eggs. He wanted to be buried in the graveyard outside the old Minster, wishes which were respected at the time. After his death, many people reported being healed when visiting his grave and it was decided to build a shrine for him in the Minster as that would be a more suitable pilgrimage site. The date for the translation of his bones was set for 15 July 971. However, on that day there was a terrific storm and they were unable to move him and according to legend the rain persisted for forty days which gave rise to the following rhyme:

St Swithun's day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain.
St Swithun's day if thou be fair
For forty days 'twill rain nai mair.

His shrine was moved into the Norman cathedral in 1093, visited by thousands of pilgrims over the following 450 years. Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries put an end to that and the monks at St Swithun's monastery which was attached to the Cathedral, hid Swithun's bones which have never been found. Part of him is in East Anglia and part in France but it is unclear to me if those bones were removed at his original disinterment or during Tudor times. Anyway, the site of the shrine remains, empty, in the Cathedral.

It was fine yesterday morning and the Bishop and Dean were on great form but I am sorry to say that there was quite a downpour in the afternoon, and last night, and this morning, so the outlook's not promising. Swithun, I should add, was tutor to King Ethelwulf and to his son King Alfred. In fact one could argue that Swithun made Alfred Great.