Walstan was born in the year 975 AD either in the village of Bawburgh five miles west of Norwich,  Norfolk, [ according to the 'Latin Life '],  or in  Blythburgh, Suffolk [according to the 'English Life'] (see below) .  His parents were Benedict and Blida who were said  to have been rich and  have kinship with the  Anglo-Saxon Kings of  Wessex and England.

    As a child Walstan received religious instruction from his Parish Priest .   In his father's library he studied the scriptures well but always returned to the challenging text,  Luke, Chap 14, verse 33.
At the age of seven he was to make his first Communion on the visit of Bishop Theodred of Elmham to Bawburgh.  Low Mass was said at which Walstan served at the altar.  When the boy held  aloft the Host a white dove was seen hovering over his head,  by all the assembly, but not by Walstan.  That afternoon he received the Sacrament of Confirmation.

    The same  evening Walstan was observed by the Bishop, praying aloud at the altar before the holy Rood.  He heard a voice which asked :   ' What wouldst thou, dear Child ?
Walstan answered :
'I would fain give Thee, dear Lord, my heart and soul and renounce all for love of Thee '
The voice was heard again to ask :  'But thou mayest become a King and wear a golden crown. '
Walstan was heard to renounce any earthly crown, asking instead for an imperishable one , an eternal crown,  in Heaven '
The voice said again:  ' Dear Child I accept thy renunciation .  Thou shall share the Crown of Thorns
with Me and thy reward shall be eternal. '
    Benedict and Blida were aware of these happenings so were not surprised when shortly after his thirteenth birthday Walstan told them that it was time for him to leave and fulfil his promise to God.
They  reluctantly agreed  to let him go with their blessing.

    He took to the road where he soon gave his rich garments to two poor men and he continued northwards in simple garments, with nothing to show he was of a rich family.  He walked through a dense forest until he came to the village of Taverham.  Resting at the roadside he was seen by  Nalga a farmer,  who, needing a labourer , offered him a job on his farm,  which Walstan accepted.

    He was renowned for being hardworking and pious working with humility and in poverty.  He frequently gave his food, clothes and shoes to the poor .  On one occasion the farmer's wife seeing him barefoot gave him a pair of shoes and food for his day's work.  While at work he saw two poor men passing by, one of whom was barefoot.  Walstan gave them his food and shoes. The farmer and his wife heard of this and were angry for his apparent ingratitude.  Walstan said that the men had been sent to him by God to find whether he loved God better than himself.  He said  ' I shod Christ in that poor man, though he did not crave '.   In her anger the farmer's wife told Walstan to go into the forest and bring back a cart load of briers and then tread them down with his bare feet. As Walstan trod them down without harm, he appeared to be treading on rose petals,  which gave forth a sweet perfume.  Nalga and his wife then begged Walstan's forgiveness.

    Walstan continued thirty years with the farmer, maintaining a vow of celibacy although he did not enter an Order.  He was loved for his charity and admired for his hardwork.  God  performed miracles wherever Walstan went.    It was claimed that animals and people were healed through his prayers and ministrations.  God prospered his labours. He was followed by miracles of fertility, even the seed corn in his basket miraculously increased.  He gave away his wages to the poor and continued to live in poverty saying nothing of his royal blood or his rich family.

    Nalga and his wife grew to love Walstan and having no children wanted to give him gifts and even make him their heir; all this Walstan refused .  Following his vow  of self denial and devotion to God,
in his humble way, he ministered to his fellow men . After thirty years of faithful service to Nalga he agreed to accept a gift of two bull calves of a certain cow and a small wagon.  He said he accepted this gift  in order to fulfil the will of God, conveyed to him by an angel.

While engaged in mowing during hay-making in May 1016 an angel appeared to Walstan saying  ' Brother Walstan, on the third day after this thou shalt peaceably depart this life to enter Paradise '
Walstan immediately went to the parish priest and received confession and  the Holy Sacraments.

    The next day, Saturday, he stopped working at noon.  Throwing down his scythe and he said  to his fellow worker that he was in no way permitted to work again until the morning of the following Monday, because at that moment he could hear emanating from heaven the sounds of bells and of celestial trumpets  . He said to his companion that if he believed and placed his foot in  Walstan's footprint....'you will see with me the gate of heaven open and the angels of God ringing the bells to the glory and praise of the holy and undivided Trinity.

    Nalga went to Norwich market that same day where he was astonished to hear a proclamation seeking the whereabouts of Walstan of Bawburgh son of Blida a relation of the East Anglian King Ethelred ,who had fled to Normandy.   Nalga learnt that Ethelred's son Edmund was exhausted by war and had no adult heir.  Canute the Dane,  son of Sweyn,  whose army was taking over East Anglia was set on becoming King and overlord. The proclamation warned that  anyone wilfully  habouring Walstan would be in pain of confiscation of goods and death.
    Nalga told Walstan that he was in grave danger by harbouring him and asked him what he should say.  Walstan told him to tell the truth and that he was his servant.  Walstan told his master of the angel's prediction of his death on the following Monday.  Walstan asked Nalga to request the priest to come to him at work on Monday morning,  so that he could receive the Holy Sacrament 'and take counsel of that holy man , so to be delivered from all the works of darkness'.

    On Monday 30th May, the priest came to the field where Walstan was working.  Walstan worked until noon then, as his time had come, put down his sycthe. There being no water for the priest's abblution, Walstan, prayed and a spring immediately appeared. He told the assembled company that after his death his body should be placed on the wagon to which his two white calves should be yoked. They should then be allowed to go  wherever they pleased.  He prayed to God that any labourer who came out of devotion and reverence seeking healing for himself or his cattle should obtain his desire.  A voice from heaven granted his wish, saying 'Oh holy Walstan, that which you have asked is granted. Come from your labour to rest. '  Walstan died and it was seen that a white dove left his body and flew upwards vanishing into a bright cloud.

    The people of Taverham followed Walstan's body on the wagon  through the wood to the bank of the River Wensum where the wagon passed over the water as if it was dry land. The followers were able to cross along the tracks made dry where the wagon had gone.     The oxen stopped again to rest on a hillside in Costessey Park close to the small stream of the little River Tud.  Where they stood aspring of clear water again broke from the ground . The wagon and its accompanying throng crossed into the parish of Bawburgh through a wide tract of marsh and mire .
    Crossing the river Yare and coming to Bawburgh village and before climbing  the short, steep  hill to the Church, the oxen stopped again.  Straight- away  another spring of miraculous water began to flow, which came to be known as Saint Walstan's Well.    The oxen then climbed the hill to the church where they passed through a hole in the north wall , made by angelic assistance, which closed behind them.  In the churchyard the oxen refused to go further.  They remained  there three days until Bishop Aelfgar of Elmham came with his clergy to bury Walstan.

    The Bishop knew of Walstan as a child and heard all the accounts of his saintly life and of the many wonders God had allowed him to perform.  He made diligent inquiries as to their truth and declared that his remains were to be venerated as those of a saint.  Notice of his decision was sent to all the churches in the neighbourhood.
         A shrine Chapel was constructed in the north wall of the  Bawburgh Church which became a place of pilgrimage .  Many miracles of healing of man and beast God granted to those who in faith sought the healing properties of the well water. An 'ancient triptych' displayed in the Shrine described eleven miracles performed there.
         In 1047 the Church and the Shrine Chapel were re-dedicated to "Saint Mary and Saint Walstan" by  Aethelmar, Bishop of Elmham.
 

Web-page author's footnote :

                                                               " THE STRIPPING OF THE ALTARS "
                                                                  Traditional Religion in England c1400-c1580
                                                                  by EamonDuffy ,  Yale  University Press. 1992

1. Medieval Paintings of St. Walstan of Bawburgh- Gisleham Norfolk
2. Blythborough Society-The Lambeth Life, St Walstan & "Blyborow Town"
3. Patron Saints Index :Walstan
4. The Saint Walstan Legend
5. Icon of St Walstan
6.Canon to the Holy Righteous Walstan of Taverham
7. 30; mai: Den helige Walstan av Bawburgh
8.Icon of St Walstan the Generous of Taverham
9.BBC online - Norfolk -Walks- Wymondham Cycle Ride
10. Orthodox England Vol 4 No 4
11. Catholic Online - Saints - St Walstan
12. Bawburgh the Village
13. Community of  Aidan & Hilda - Around the East Anglia Region
14. Beschreibung
15. Archaeology
16. Saints of May 30
17. St Walstan
18. Taverham village sign
19 The History Page
20. Towns and Parishes Northwest Area
21. tombawb.htm-Bawburgh
22.Medieval Paintings of St. Walstan of Bawburgh- Gisleham Norfolk
23 An Orthodox account of St Walstan