Elphin

Elphin of Warrington is a saint of north-⁠west England, of the 7th century, who reposed in 679 and is patron of the town of Warrington. He is venerated in the Western Church.

Little is known about his life. According to tradition he was a companion of Saint Oswald at Iona. When Oswald became king of Northumbria and moved his country residence to Makerfield, Elphin accompanied him, and Oswald built him a wooden church on the site of the present parish church in Warrington. The Domesday Book also describes two carucates of land in the Hundred of Newton-⁠in-⁠Makerfield as belonging to Saint Elphin. He is said to have been martyred in 679.

Saint Elphin's Church in Warrington, with its 281-foot spire, bears his name, as did Saint Elphin's School, closed in 2005.