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St John Schorne's Well, North Marston

Dedication: Saint John Schorne Location: North Marston Coordinates: 51.89589, -0.87257 Grid reference: SP776225 Heritage designation: none

Master John Schorne, though never officially canonised, was treated as a saint and was the patron of multiple shrines across the country. He is possibly the latest saint to possess a holy well, the majority of holy wells being dedicated to saints from the 7th or 8th centuries. Schorne's lineage is not known, but it is possible that he was born in Shorne, Kent, from which he may have derived his name. Schorne first appeared in North Marston in around 1290, when he became the parish rector; after his death in around 1313, North Marston became a place of pilgrimage, and stories began to circulate about miracles that he had performed. It is not clear whether stories of these miracles were already circulating before his death, or whether they began to spread after he was buried in North Marston's chancel, but what is certain is that he was a very charismatic and pious leader. In fact, Schorne's knees are said to have become "horny" as a result of his "continual posture of devotion". By far the most famed miracle, however, that Schorne is reputed to have performed was casting the devil into a boot.

Originally, Schorne's shrine was kept in the chancel of Marston church, but it was such a magnet for pilgrims that the Bishop of Salisbury had it moved, in 1478, to St George's Chapel at Windsor, and left only Schorne's image at Marston's church. The numbers of pilgrims visiting Marston were not greatly affected, however, as his holy well remained in the village (certainly, the Bishop of Salisbury would have moved it if he had been able). Even Schorne's image alone attracted pilgrims until the Reformation, and Cromwell's commissioner, John London, wrote to Cromwell in the August of 1538 to inform him that "at Merston Mr. Johan Schorn stondith blessing a bote, whereunto they do say he conveyd the devill. He ys moch sowȝt for the agow [ague]". In fact, there is evidence that the shrine of Schorne at Marston (even after Schorne's relics had been removed) may have been equal in popularity to the Holy House at Walsingham. At the Reformation, offerings to Schorne's shrine were valued at £500 per annum (around £280,000 today), whereas offerings to Our Lady of Walsingham were valued at £260 per annum (roughly £150,000 today); the popularity of Schorne's shrine is too often underestimated.

Pilgrims often went to Marston in the hope of attaining a cure for the ague, a disease that is now called malaria. Until around the late 17th century, "English malaria" was common in England, particularly in marshland, and Oliver Cromwell himself died from the ague as late as 1658. It appears that it was the well itself that was credited with this healing power, which would explain why Marston remained a pilgrimage destination even after Schorne's relics had been removed. Additionally, the water was also renowned for its efficacy in the curing of gout; it is surely no coincidence that this disease was known as "the devil in the boot" during the medieval period. In fact, Henry VIII is said to have come to Marston twice with the aim of curing himself of this disease. The well was so popular that several lodging houses were built near the well in the medieval era for the accommodation of pilgrims.

According to local legend, Schorne created the spring during a severe drought by striking the ground with his staff. When Browne Willis visited Marston, probably in the early 18th century, he noted that the story of Schorne's most famous miracle, in verse, was recorded on the wall of the well (Sir John Schorne/Gentleman borne/Conjured the Devil into a Boot), and that in living memory, a post had stood on Oving Hill, pointing to the well. Immediately after the Reformation, it does seem that the well's supposed healing powers were forgotten, although its water was still used for domestic purposes. In fact, in the late 17th century, the vicar of nearby Winslow, John Croft, wrote about the various ways in which the water was still used:

However, the well soon regained its healing reputation (if, that is, it ever truly lost it) in 1835, when Marston's inhabitants survived a local cholera outbreak unscathed, supposedly as a result of the curative waters of the holy well. The Month Magazine, in 1937, reported that "no fatal epidemic has visited this place" since the villagers began using the water once more. Indeed, George Lipscomb, writing in 1847 in The History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham, related that the well was still "occasionally resorted to, for the relief of scorbutic and cutaneous diseases"; it appears that the well's supposed healing powers had changed over time, once the ague was no longer so prevalent. By 1863, however, the well was no longer ascribed curative properties, if, at least, Robert Chambers (who asserted that "its reputation is wholly gone"), writing in The Book of Days, is to be believed.

Nonetheless, the well was still one of the village's main water sources, and it sounds as though the original, perhaps medieval, cistern may have survived mostly unchanged through to the early 20th century. Robert Gibbs, in The Buckinghamshire Miscellany (1891), described its appearance in detail:

This possibly original cistern was, however, covered over with a large trapdoor, seemingly in the early 20th century, and a pump was erected beside it for the convenience of the locals. This trapdoor was visible until 2004, when the well was subject to a major "renovation" that saw the complete closure of the cistern. Today, all that is left is the old pump.

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