St Gudula - Photographing a Saint (or at least, someone playing one)
In The River Swincombe
So, I was recently asked to photograph Helen Bruce, the Communications Officer at the Dartmoor Preservation Association as St Gudula, in preparation for a brand new community ceremony coming to the beautiful town of Ashburton this May. (More on that in a bit).
I’ve worked with Helen on numerous projects now and when she asked me about this, I popped a note into my diary to meet her at Whiteworks on a Thursday in March and didn’t think much more about it until the day came around.
Helen will be leading a procession through the back streets of Ashburton dressed as a medieval Belgian saint and finishing by performing a ceremony at St Gudula’s Well.
Who was this St Gudula?
I turned up on the day, as prepared as you can be when you pretty much make everything up as you go along. I knew Helen would be donning some form of costume and that the River Swincome would be involved, so I’d brought my wetsuit and my waterproof camera housing (to be on the safe side).
I distinctly remembered Helen mentioning a Saint in her emails and was fairly sure that the name began with a “G”. Very little else registered and when I asked about the character on the day I made a quick mental note to research them when I got home.
So, who is St Gudula? Short answer, it appears that nobody's entirely convinced that she has anything to do with Devon at all.
She was an 7th (or 8th) century Belgian princess (or maybe not a princess) who became the patron saint of the blind and of Brussels and who almost certainly never came anywhere near Britain, let alone Ashburton.
Helen Bruce as St Gudula for The Dartmoor Tors Festival
The most believable explanation of why a water feature in small Devon town has this association is that another of our well meaning but slightly delusional Victorian antiquarians made a spurious connection between her name and the well's supposed eye healing qualities. The name itself seems to be probably just descriptive, referring to the site forming a gully.
There also appear to be some interesting competing theories involving a 6th century Welsh healer and a Cornish saint. Photography is way easier than history 🤣
Another source suggest there is even some confusion as to whether the “real” saint the well was dedicated to was male or female.
All this aside; and considering I’m in the middle of researching my own Dartmoor based story, I’m hardly in a position to be pooh poohing some obvious fictions; what's really not in dispute is the well itself.
A small spring on the old Totnes to Ashburton road, with a restored 14th-century cross standing alongside, and a Grade II listing to its name.
Whatever the true origins of it’s name, it's a genuinely lovely spot and I’m sad to say (having lived close by in Buckfastleigh for a number of years) I have yet to visit the well (though I can highly recommend the local churchyard … I prefer gravestones to churches).
The ceremony itself
Gudula's Gathering has been conceived by writer and events curator of The Dartmoor Tors Festival Kirsteen McNish, and Helen Bruce of the Dartmoor Preservation Association, as the closing event for this years Dartmoor Tors Festival.
It's a totally new invention, not a revival of something older, but a contemporary community ritual built thoughtfully out of old materials, half forgotten stories and a real local place.
The ceremony will incorporate a procession and a well dressing, led by St Gudula and the three River Spirits, namely Avon, Dart and Teign.
People are being encouraged to adorn themselves with greenery and flowers and bring posies to offer to the well.
Helen, who we already know will be embodying St Gudula on the day, put it like this: "There is a wonderful symbolism in St Gudula; she represents ideas of clear sight and healing - ideas that we very much need in these difficult and uncertain times. The idea of light also feeds into the sun returning after the long months of winter, and nature coming back to life."
One of the shots where the headdress stayed put! Helen is a trooper 😍
New music for the procession has been specially composed by Mike McInerney.
Outdoor Portrait Shoot at Swincombe Valley on Dartmoor
As I’ve previously mentioned, I’ve worked with Helen on numerous other occasions before , and (if truth be told) I have a couple of blog entries about our exploits that are far from being half written, and I really should be completing those before setting out to write about invoking obscure medieval Belgian royalty on the basis that some Victorian antiquarian took a look at a damp hole in the ground, concluded it sounded vaguely similar to a saint's name and thought 'that’s close enough.' 🤣
After helping a lovely local lady move an antique lawn roller (now there’s a blog entry in itself) … the very same lady guided us across the River Strane (avoiding wet feet) to the wall that leads around to The Swincombe Valley, where Helen and I got to work capturing some images of St Gudula!
The weather was bright and sunny, however it was also blowing a hooley, and Helens, headdress had to be abandoned on several occasions due to it being blown clean off her head. Hence why it appears in some images and not in others 😜
I was wrapped up warm in a winter wetsuit, so I can only imagine how cold Helen was (though it was infinitely easier for her to change back into sensible hiking clothes).
If you fancy your very own outdoor portrait session on Dartmoor, you can find out more about my work here 💚📷
The event itself
The ceremony will take place on Sunday 3 May at 4pm, starting outside Ashburton Arts Centre. From there, participants walk in a quiet and thoughtful procession to St Gudula's Well via the back alleyways of the town. Once at the well, there will be a reflective ceremony and a well dressing with flowers, before the procession returns; to music and drums; back to the Arts Centre.
It's totally free and everyone is welcome.
Please book your ticket here so the organisers will have some idea of numbers.
The Swincombe Valley