Neot

For other uses, see St Neot (disambiguation).

Mosaic in memory of St Neot

Neot is a saint of the 9th century who lived as a monk in Cornwall. He is mentioned in an interpolated passage in Asser's Life of King Alfred^[1] and died around AD 870.

Neot seems to have begun his adult life as a soldier, later renouncing a martial lifestyle for life in a monastery. He served as sacristan at Glastonbury Abbey but later lived in Cornwall, at first alone, then with a growing group of other monks near Bodmin Moor. He was remembered (and given the status of a saint) because of his good work in caring for the poor. The Cornish village of St Neot and the Cambridgeshire town of St Neots are named after him.

The image to the right shows the commemorative mosaic of the saint in the Market Square in St Neots. The mosaic is based on a Saxon ornament, the Alfred Jewel. Two of the fifteen stained glass windows in the church of St Neot, Cornwall portray the saint: one of them consists of scenes from the life of the saint.

Relics of St Neot

His bones were preserved as a holy relic in the Cornish village of his name but were later stolen by monks and taken to the medieval St Neot's Priory on the River Great Ouse near Bedford. They returned with their prize, pursued (according to some versions) by angry Cornishmen. The bones were housed in the priory for many years but were finally 'lost' during the reign of Henry VIII during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. His feast day is 31 July (celebrated at St Neot on the last Sunday of July).^[2] He is also the patron saint of fish ^[3]

Notes

1. ^ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford
2. ^ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford
3. ^ Patron Saints Index, Accessed 11 Nov 2010, http://saints.sqpn.com/patrons-of-fish/

References

• Young, Rosa (1996) St Neots Past, pp. 15–18. Chichester: Phillimore and Co Ltd. ISBN 1-86077-025-8
• BHL 6052 (1101–1125) : Vita (AASS 31 Jul.)^{[clarification needed]}

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