Mike England

Explorer Tom St Winefride's Well Museum sits beside a spring that has drawn pilgrims to Holywell for centuries, and I arrived wondering how a small display could compete with water that already has a famous story. The answer is in the objects: they let you see how people carried that story through very different times. The shrine's museum preserves material linked to Winefride and the long pilgrimage to her well. Its collection includes part of an early medieval wooden reliquary known as the Arch Gwenfrewi and a later oak chest associated with it. These are physical witnesses to devotion, distinct from the legend that says Winefride was brought back to life by St Beuno. I reckon the old chest would roll its eyes at my suggestion that it was the world's most serious travel case. That is a joke, not a label from the museum. Its real value is that a wooden object can survive while generations retell a saint's life in words. Look from the display to the well and back, and think about what people chose to keep, carry and protect on a long journey. The legend is colourful; the surviving wood is wonderfully stubborn. The shrine operator says many museum items are displayed daily in the exhibition area beside the shop. Check current access to the museum rooms before travelling, as the well, chapel and displays have different arrangements; the chapel key is requested from the curator. The shrine charges admission to the well, while Cadw lists chapel entry separately. Visit respectfully, and give the objects time to speak without asking them to perform a miracle.