Our Lady Queen of Martyrs & St Ignatus
Chideock, Dorset
A beautiful Italian style church, revealing a history of the Catholic martyrs.
St Candida and Holy Cross is dedicated to St Wite, a mysterious local saint and holy woman. Little is known of St Wite, but she goes by several names: Blanche, Gwen, or in Latin, Candida, all meaning 'White'. Tradition holds that she was an Anglo-Saxon hermit killed by invading Vikings, or else the Celtic St Gwen.
Whatever St Wite's origins, the hosts her shrine - and holds her bones. The three oval holes of the shrine were for pilgrims to places diseased body parts or items into, to enjoy the healing properties of the holy relics. Today the shrine still stands, a miraculous survivor of the Reformation.