St Egwin

Egwin, bishop of Worcester at the close of the seventh century, is remembered as a reforming prelate whose zeal made him enemies as well as admirers. Said to have been of Mercian royal blood, he gave himself to God early and brought a stern conscience to the correction of vice. Complaints were raised against him, and he went on pilgrimage to Rome so that his cause might be heard before the Holy See. Around that journey local tradition placed one of the most famous marvels in his story: that he wore iron shackles, cast away the key, and later recovered it from the belly of a fish. Whether or not that detail is taken literally, the broader image is plain enough. Egwin is a bishop willing to humble himself, to undertake hard penance, and to answer accusation without abandoning his office.

After his return, with the support of King Ethelred of Mercia, he founded the abbey of Evesham under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin. The old local tradition surrounding Evesham, including the vision first granted to the herdsman Eof and later shared by Egwin, belongs to the abbey's living memory and helped explain the great devotion attached to the place. Egwin later travelled to Rome again with Kings Cenred and Offa, and his foundation was remembered as enjoying papal favour. He died in 717 and was buried at Evesham. The life is brief and touched by legend, but the central picture holds: a reforming bishop, a pilgrim under trial, and the founder-saint behind one of medieval England's most important abbeys.