Saint Baldred, Patron Saint of East Lothian

St Baldred's Church, Scotland

The ruins of St Baldred's Church in the grounds
of Tyninghame House, East Lothian, Scotland.

Saint of the day: 5th March

                       We celebrate Saints Baldred and Bilfrith
Hermits. St Baldred lived during the 6th century in Northumberland, as a hermit, first at Tyningham and then on the Bass Rock.

According to legend, it was thanks to his prayers that a dangerous reef was removed between the rock and the mainland. All that is left of it is St Baldred's Rock.

The saint's supposed relics were discovered with those of St Bilfrith in the 11th century and removed to Durham.

St Bilfrith was also a hermit and a goldsmith. He lived during the 8th century and spent many years decorating the Lindisfarne Gospels with gold, silver and gems on the binding. The book survives but the binding was lost

  

St Baldred's Well

St Baldred's Well, Preston
©2011 Gazetteer for Scotland

A little spring on the banks of the River Tyne at Preston, on the northeast edge of East Linton in East Lothian, St. Baldred's Well lies close to Preston Kirk, which was founded by the saint. The well supplied the Red Friars who had a monastery close by in the 13th century and remained a source of water for the residents of Preston into the 20th century.