Wareham: wall in St Edward's Chapel

This chapel, in the church of Lady St Mary, is dedicated to St Edward, King and Martyr.


During the early middle ages, martyred kings were not uncommon - see my comment last October on the death of the Danish King Knut IV. Political capital could be made from the martyrdom of a king, and a church's possession of relics or bodies of saints and martyrs was a reliable source of both pilgrimage and patronage.

King Edward was murdered near Corfe Castle in 978, and buried in Wareham. Two years later the body was disinterred and moved to Shaftesbury Abbey; the body was reported to be found in perfect condition - a strong pointer to martyrdom. Twenty years later, following reports of miraculous cures at his new shrine, Edward was canonised.

The murder of Edward had resulted in his younger half-brother Ethelred taking the English throne. He was not a popular king, as witness his nickname of "badly advised" (the Old English word "unræd" being incorrectly rendered as "unready"), and the murder had probably been perpetrated to ensure his succession to the crown. Perhaps the martyrdom had been "managed" by Edward's supporters.


This chapel, in Wareham's largest church, was built in about 1100; its vaulted roof was added in 1200, to carry the weight of the treasury built above it. Immediately on the other side of the wall was the cloister of the adjacent priory.

The two dark stone pilasters are of Purbeck marble, a frequent adornment of churches and cathedrals of this period. ("Purbeck marble" is not a true marble, but an attractive and valuable variety of Purbeck stone which can be highly polished.)

The Reverend John Hutchins, 1700-1775, author of "The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset" is buried in this chapel; the oval memorial tablet on the wall is dedicated to him.