Historical and Art Medals, Numismatic Books

19th Century, Gloucestershire, Winchcombe, St Kenelm’s Well, 1887, a white metal medal by J. Ottley, frontal elevation of a building, rev. this well marks the spot where the body of king kenelm rested on the way to internment at winchcombe abbey, etc, 51mm (W & E 2310; BHM 3349). Minor spotting on rims, otherwise very fine (£15-25)

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, Gloucestershire Medals from the Collection of the Late Barry Greenaway.

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Provenance:
From L.A. McCarthy by exchange December 1985.

The existence of Kenelm, son of Coenwulf, King of Wessex, has not been substantiated but he is reputed to have been murdered on the orders of his sister, Quendrada, at Clent-in-Cowbage, near Winchcombe. His body was interred at Winchcombe Abbey (not Winchester Abbey as per the reading of the legend given by Brown). Water from the well was distributed free to the inhabitants of Winchcombe on 20 June 1887 by Emma Coucher Dent (née Brocklehurst), whose late husband, John Coucher Dent (†March 1885), inherited Sudeley Castle in 1855