Sidwell of Exeter

Saint Sidwell of Exeter (Sativola, Sidwella) was a virgin of Devon in England, patron of Exeter and sister of Saint Juthwara. She was beheaded as a martyr, probably with a scythe.

The legend shows her as a Saxon Christian living in Exeter in the eighth century (the calendars say the sixth). Her father, Benna, a wealthy landowner, died leaving her in the care of a cruel stepmother, jealous of her beauty and virtue and coveting her inheritance. Sidwell often left the city to bring food to the villagers working in the fields. A catalogue says she was beheaded by two corn reapers hired by her stepmother, who cut off her head with a scythe; where her head came to rest, water sprang up. Her well, the Well of Saint Sidwell, was a place of pilgrimage in Anglo-⁠Saxon and Norman England.

Her cult has been active at Exeter from Anglo-⁠Saxon times; pilgrims were visiting her shrine by the year 1000. Her feast day is variously given as 31 July, 1 or 2 August. The church of Saint Sidwell, just outside the site of Exeter's east gate, and Sidwell Street bear her name, and a church at Laneast in Cornwall is dedicated to her. In art she is shown with a scythe and a well beside her. She is commemorated on 2 August as a saint of the undivided Church, by the New Calendar.