The Parish Church of St
Werburgh viewed from Lynmouth Road. The church originally
stood in Corn Street near
the City Centre and its Saxon dedication suggests that it was founded
before the Norman Conquest
of 1066, making it one of Bristol's oldest churches. WERBURGH or
WEREBURGA was a Saxon saint
and the daughter of the Mercian King WULFHERE. She died
c. 700AD and was buried
at Hanbury in Staffordshire where numerous cures were performed
at her tomb. In 875 her
body was moved to Chester where the church of St Peter and St Paul, on
the site of the present
Chester Cathedral, was rededicated to St Werburgh and St Oswald. In the
11th century LEOFRIC, Earl
of Mercia, and his wife GODGIFU repaired and enlarged the church.
GODGIFU is better known
to us as Lady GODIVA. The church was sacked in the 16th century
during the Dissolution of
the Monasteries and the shrine of St Werburgh was broken up on
the orders of King HENRY
VIII. In 1876 the remains of the shrine were re-assembled by
Sir A.W. BLOMFIELD and can
be seen in the Lady Chapel of the Chester Cathedral.