Holywell in north Wales takes its name from the miraculous Well of St Winefride, which has attracted pilgrims to the town for many centuries. The Well was falling into a state of disrepair and neglect when in 1890 the Jesuits appointed a young and energetic new priest to the Holywell parish. Within a few years Fr Charles Beauclerk had given the shrine a new lease of life, with a particular emphasis on regular processions through the streets of Holywell and on to the Well itself. By 1895 he was feeling the need for new and more splendid processional banners, and when an impecunious artist happened to visit the town, Fr Beauclerk prevailed upon him to stay. The artist told Beauclerk that his name was Frederick Austin, but in reality he was Frederick Rolfe, soon to write the unusual books, some of them under his nom de plume ‘Baron Corvo,’ which were to bring him enduring literary fame.

In return for his food and lodging, Rolfe produced some fourteen or fifteen banners, of which only five have survived, as striking and colourful examples of his naïve representational style. His time in Holywell did not end well, however, as he gradually became convinced that Fr Beauclerk was taking advantage of him.

This book tells the story of Rolfe’s commission to paint the banners, and reproduces each of the banners as a full colour, full-page plate, and each has a detailed description of its fascinating iconography.