13 Facts About Saint Walstan

Saint Walstan is a patron saint of farm animals and agricultural workers, who once visited his shrine at the church at Bawburgh, in the English county of Norfolk.

Saint Walstan is associated with the English county of Norfolk, but uncertainty surrounds his actual identity and any details of his life.

Capgrave's was printed by Wynkyne de Worde in 1516; Walstan was included as one of 15 new saints in a compilation that did not form part of the main text.

Saint Walstan has been compared with Godric of Finchale, a Norfolk man who was known for his kindness towards animals.

Saint Walstan became a serf and worked as a farm hand for a man at Taverham.

Saint Walstan distributed his belongings amongst the needy and gave away his shoes to a poor man.

Saint Walstan was miraculously saved from injuring his feet, whereby the woman begged his forgiveness.

The animal delivered two calves, which Saint Walstan then cared for, not knowing that one day they would transport his body to where he was to be buried.

Saint Walstan's hearse left Taverham and passed through Costessey, where the bulls pulled the cart over a deep pool without sinking, and a spring appeared.

Saint Walstan was placed inside the church at Bawburgh with the bishop and his monks in attendance.

Saint Walstan is venerated as a saint of farms and farm workers, and his shrine and the wells associated with him were visited by local farmers and farm laborers throughout the Middle Ages.

At Costessey, the second place where Saint Walstan's hearse rested, the well there had dried up by 1750.

Churches dedicated to Saint Walstan dating from before the English Reformation are found in Norfolk.