Origins and Holy Family
By the hagiographic tradition Nectan was the eldest of the children of Brychan, a fifth-century king of Brycheiniog in Mid Wales of Irish descent. The number of Brychan's children is given variously in the sources, from twelve to more than sixty, with twenty-four most frequently cited; many of them became saints whose names are attached to churches and places across Wales, Cornwall, and Devon. The Orthodox Synaxarion identifies Nectan as 'the oldest of the twenty-four children of Saint Brychan of Brecknock,' whose own feast is kept on April 6.
The historical record of Nectan's life is limited. The Orthodox Church in America notes plainly that 'we know few details about his life.' The principal hagiographic source is a fourteenth-century manuscript preserved at Gotha containing a Life of Nectan, an account of the finding of his body, and a collection of miracle stories; scholars date the composition of the Life itself to the late twelfth century.
Hermitage at Hartland and Martyrdom
Moved to imitate the desert ascetics, Nectan crossed from Wales to the northern coast of Devon with companions and made his hermitage at Hartland, in a dense wooded valley beside a spring. There he lived for several years in solitude, devoted to ascetic struggle.
One account relates that he helped a swineherd recover lost pigs and received two cows in gratitude. When robbers stole the cattle, Nectan pursued them and attempted to bring them to Christ; instead they fell upon him and beheaded him, by tradition about the year 510, at Newton in Hartland. He is venerated as a martyr.
Relics & Shrines
A considerable medieval cult grew around Nectan's shrine at Hartland, supported by both Saxon kings and Norman lords. Bishop Lyfing of Crediton approved the translation of his remains and gave bells, lead for the church roof, and a sculptured reliquary; his staff was ornamented with precious metals and gems. From the twelfth century, Augustinian canons of Hartland Abbey maintained the shrine until its dissolution at the English Reformation.
Numerous churches were dedicated to him, including St Nectan's Church at Stoke in Hartland and St Nectan's at Welcombe to the south, a medieval chapel near St Winnow in Cornwall, a church at Ashcombe in Devon, and possibly the original church at Ashton. He is also associated with St Nectan's Glen and Waterfall near Tintagel in Cornwall, where tradition holds he lived as a hermit above the waterfall.
Miracles & Traditions
Historically Documented: A miracle account dated to 937 records that on the eve of the Battle of Brunanburh a young man of Hartland afflicted with plague called on Nectan and was healed after the saint appeared to him after midnight; King Athelstan is said to have rewarded Nectan's church with gifts of property following his victory.
Traditional Accounts: Hagiographic tradition records that after his beheading Nectan took up his severed head and carried it back to his well before collapsing and dying, a motif known as cephalophory. Local lore holds that wherever his blood fell foxgloves grew, and that foxgloves are brought to his well on his feast day. By another tradition at St Nectan's Glen he rang a silver bell in stormy weather to warn ships away from the rocky coast.
Veneration
Nectan is commemorated by the Orthodox Church in America on June 17 as a saint and martyr, and he is also honored by the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion. In the Catholic tradition he was recognized through the pre-Congregation process and is sometimes known by the name Nighton. He is the patron saint of Hartland in Devon.
Besides June 17, additional dates connected with him are recorded, including May 18, February 14, and December 4, the last associated with the translation of his relics.
