Find Padbury on a map

St. Edmund, king and martyr, to give him his full title, died in Suffolk, (or perhaps Norfolk) in 869CE, and one of the more persistent legends about him was that his severed head was found and guarded by a wolf until searchers found it. Edmund was immensely popular, and it is not really surprising to find paintings alluding to his martyrdom outside East Anglia.

At the left the crouching wolf has its jaws (there is a hint of some very sharp teeth) locked firmly around the lower part of the head while a rescuer at the upper right is probing it (gingerly, presumably) with what might be a long metal instrument or perhaps a pair of tongs.

There are other paintings at Padbury, including a badly damaged Wheel of the 7 Deadly Sins, which I will include on the site at a future update. Various paintings of the Martyrdom of Edmund are also on the site, and can be found in the table below. But only one other painting telling the post-mortem story of St. Edmund’s head, at Thornham Parva in Norfolk, is known to me, and this too will be on the site as soon as possible. Meanwhile, you can read Edmund’s story from the Golden Legend by following this link.

St. Andrew Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland	St. Anne teaching the Virgin to read-Corby Glen, Lincolnshire	St. Antony and the Pig, Barton, Cambridgeshire	St. Barbara : Hessett, Suffolk	St. Bartholomew : Selling, Kent	St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Castor, Cambs	St Catherine of Alexandria, Cold Overton, Leicestershire	St.Catherine of Alexandria : Hardley Street, Norfolk
St.Catherine of Alexandria : Old Weston, Northants	St.Catherine of Alexandria : Pickering, N. Yorks	St.Catherine of Alexandria, life of : Sporle, Norfolk	St. Catherine of Alexandria, Martyrdom of: Burton Latimer, Northants NEW	St. Catherine of Alexandria or another female saint : Ashley, Hampshire NEW
St. Clement : South Leigh, Oxon.	Scenes from the life of St. Cuthbert : Pittington, Co. Durham NEW	St. Dunstan holding the Devil by the nose : Barton, Cambs
St.Edmund : Boxford, Suffolk	St. Edmund : Lakenheath, Suffolk	St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Bishopsbourne, Kent	St.Edmund, Martyrdom of : Fritton, Norfolk	St. Edmund (or St. Walstan) : Gisleham, Norfolk	St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Pickering, N.Yorks	St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Stoke Dry, Rutland	St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Troston, Suffolk
St. Edmund, Martyrdom of : Weare Giffard, Devon	Wolf guarding St. Edmund’s head, Padbury, Buckinghamshire NEW	St.Eloi, Broughton, Bucks	St. Eloi and the possessed horse, Slapton, Northants	St. Eloi, as bishop & blacksmith, Wensley, N.Yorks	St.Erasmus, Martyrdom of : Chippenham, Cambs	St. Etheldreda : Willingham, Cambs	St. Francis Preaching to the Birds : Little Kimble, Bucks
St.Francis Preaching to the Birds : Wissington, Suffolk	St. Francis Receiving the Stigmata, Slapton, Northants	St. George & Dragon : Banningham, Norfolk	St. George & Dragon : Broughton, Bucks	St. George & Dragon : Earl Stonham, Suffolk	St. George & Dragon : Fritton, Norfolk	St. George & Dragon : Hornton, Oxon	St. George dedicating himself to the Virgin : Astbury, Cheshire
St. George, with the princess : Little Kimble, Bucks	St. George & the Dragon : Kirtlington, Oxon NEW	St.Helena, Broughton, Bucks	St.James the Great : Hales, Norfolk	Life of St. James, Stoke Orchard, Gloucestershire	St. James the Great, meeting pilgrims : Wisborough Green, Sussex	St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks	St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Heydon, Norfolk
St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Idsworth, Hampshire	St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Old Weston, Northants	St. John the Baptist, Martyrdom of : Pickering, N. Yorks	Life of St. John the Baptist : Cerne Abbas, Dorset	St. John the Evangelist, Selling, Kent	St. John the Evangelist, Weston Longville, Norfolk	St. Margaret of Antioch : Old Weston, Northants	St. Margaret and the dragon : South Newington, Oxfordshire
St. Margaret of Antioch Martyred, Stoke Dry, Rutland	St. Margaret of Antioch, Life of : Charlwood, Surrey	Life of St. Margaret, Wendens Ambo, Essex	Martyrdom of St. Margaret, Duxford, Cambridgeshire	Martyrdom of St. Margaret, Ashby St Ledgers, Northamptonshire NEW	St. Martin dividing his cloak, Chalgrave, Beds	St. Martin dividing his cloak, Wareham, Dorset	St.Nicholas of Myra, life of : Little Horwood, Bucks
St. Nicholas of Myra, two miracles of : Wissington, Suffolk	St. Nicholas of Myra & the Boys in the Barrel, Padworth, Berkshire	St.Paul : Black Bourton, Oxon	St. Paul : Beckley, Oxon	St. Paul : Selling, Kent	St. Peter : Beckley, Oxon	St.Peter : Black Bourton, Oxon	St. Peter, Martyrdom of : Chacombe, Northants
St. Peter : Selling, Kent	SS. Peter & Paul, Old Idsworth, Hampshire NEW	St. Roch : Pinvin, Worcs	St. Sexburga? : Willingham, Cambs	S. Stephen, Martyrdom of, North Stoke, Oxon	St. Stephen, Stoning of: Black Bourton, Oxon	St. Stephen, Stoning of: Catfield, Norfolk	St.Swithun (?) enthroned : Old Weston, Northants
Scenes from the life of St. Swithun : Corhampton, Hampshire	St. Thomas Becket, blessing, Hauxton, Cambs.	St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, Marston Magna, Somerset	St. Thomas Becket, Murder of, North Stoke, Oxfordshire	St.Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Burlingham, Norfolk	St. Thomas Becket, Murder of : South Newington, Oxfordshire	St. Walstan of Bawburgh? or St. Edmund : Gisleham, Norfolk	St. Zita : Horley, Oxon
St. Zita : Shorthampton, Oxon	Unidentified female saint : Heydon

© Anne Marshall 2000 & 2010