Saxon Crediton was clearly an important place and, in my opinion, King Alfred probably came here, although there is no written evidence for this. Its importance is revealed when in 909 (King Alfred died in 899 and in 909 his son, Edward the Elder was king) the huge diocese of Sherborne, which extended from Dorset to Lands End, was divided up. A new diocese was created in Somerset, based on Wells, and a new diocese for Devon and Cornwall was created, based on Crediton.
It is important to note that Crediton was chosen instead of nearby Exeter. Saxon Crediton was clearly a very important place ecclesiastically and it seems unlikely to me that Crediton would have suddenly became important in 909. It seems more probable that it would have been a significant religious site prior to this. We know that King Alfred was pious and it is recorded that he spent time in Devon and Cornwall, so it seems probable to me that he would therefore have visited Crediton at some point. Exeter would, eventually, have its day when the seat of the diocese was moved from Crediton to Exeter in 1050. Crediton may have been favoured over Exeter because of its association with St Boniface (see below), but a charter dated 739 suggests perhaps an additional reason. In this charter (S255), King Æthelheard grants to Bishop Forthere 20 hides at Crediton to build a monastery, which seems to have been later suitable for adaptation to form the seat of a bishopric.
The parish church that one sees today has some 12th century components, but is largely 15th century. It is thought that this church is built over the earlier church (or cathedral as it should be called between 909 and 1050). We don’t know if anything new was built when Saxon Crediton rose to greater prominence or whether it carried on with the same religious buildings that would have been there anyway.
St Boniface
It is claimed that St Boniface was born at Crediton in about 680AD. He was a very prominent saint across northern Europe, becoming the patron saint of Germany, and there are moves to make him the patron saint of Devon (I cannot confirm that this has taken place at the time of writing). He was venerated after his death in Fulda (Germany) in 745, so it seems likely that Alfred would have known about him and may have visited Crediton, the claimed birth-place of St Boniface, for this reason as well. If St Boniface had indeed been born at Crediton, this may have been at least part of the reason why Crediton was favoured over Exeter in 909.
The Wells
Crediton was created the focus of a diocese at the same time as Wells (Somerset). However, the comparisons do not end there. Both places are closely connected with springs. It may be that many more significant religious locations were associated with water. Perhaps the association has become less obvious over time. At Crediton there are two springs that can be easily visited. One is called Libbets Well, and is just north west of the church. It is not easy to find. You need to go up an unnamed track coming off Church Street, not far opposite the footpath that leads from the church car park. The other is called St Boniface’s Well (or Winfrith’s well – after St Boniface’s original name) and is at the south end of the park that is a short distance west of the cathedral. This well is marked by a “W” on the Ordnance Survey map.
Although a fair bit further away, there is another interesting well in the lovely settlement at Shobrooke, to the north-east of Crediton. This can also be tricky to find. If you can find St Swithun’s church, Shobrooke, you will see a large thatched farmhouse. The road that goes down past this leads to the well (which is on the right). There is no evidence that any of these wells are ancient (but also no evidence that they are not) and the two in Crediton may be associated with the culverted Littleburn Stream. Perhaps more significant in this regard is a spring marked on the 1890 Ordnance Survey map just north of the church car park. Incidentally, the same map shows the church car park to have once been the site of a (St Gregory’s) cathedral. We now know that the cathedral was not at that location.
Copplestone
For those interested in Anglo-Saxon history a visit to the nearby Copplestone Cross, in Copplestone village, is a must. Located on a busy traffic island (it was moved to this location to ease the flow of traffic in 1969), it is a wayside cross thought to date to the 10th century . It is thought to have been erected in memory of a murdered bishop.
