Saint Morwenna was an early 6th century saint from Morwenstow

Morwenstow

thumb|Parish Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist, MorwenstowMorwenstow is a civil parish and hamlet in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated near the coast approximately six miles north of Bude....

 in Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

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Her name at Marhamchurch

Marhamchurch

Marhamchurch is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, United Kingdom.Marhamchurch village is situated 1½ miles south of Bude off the A39 road.-History:...

 is recorded as Marwenne and she is also the patron saint of Lamorran

Lamorran and Merther

Lamorran and Merther is a united ecclesiastical parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom.Merther is located two miles west of Truro . Merther church is dedicated to St Coan but is now disused and ruinous. A new church was built at Tresillian Bridge in 1904...

. Morwenna is said to have been one of the many children of King Brychan

Brychan

Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog in South Wales.-Life:Celtic hagiography tells us that Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and his wife, Marchel, heiress of the Welsh kingdom of Garthmadrun , which the couple later inherited...

 of Brycheiniog

Brycheiniog

Brycheiniog was a small independent petty kingdom in South Wales in the Early Middle Ages. It often acted as a buffer state between England to the east and the powerful south Welsh kingdom of Deheubarth to the west. It was conquered and pacified by the Normans between 1088 and 1095, though it...

. Like many of her siblings, she apparently travelled across the Bristol Channel

Bristol Channel

The Bristol Channel is a major inlet in the island of Great Britain, separating South Wales from Devon and Somerset in South West England. It extends from the lower estuary of the River Severn to the North Atlantic Ocean...

 to Cornwall

Kingdom of Cornwall

The Kingdom of Cornwall was an independent polity in southwest Britain during the Early Middle Ages, roughly coterminous with the modern English county of Cornwall. During the sub-Roman and early medieval periods Cornwall was evidently part of the kingdom of Dumnonia, which included most of the...

 where she settled at Morwenstow in the extreme north of the modern county. Images of her in stained glass

Stained glass

The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...

 may be seen in the parish church

Church of England parish church

A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...

 there and her holy well survives in a now inaccessible position down below the cliff.

Mor wenna is a Cornish

Cornish language

Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...

 name and is derived from "Mor" Cornish for sea and "Wenna" meaning maiden (or possibly white). It is also used as the Cornish for mermaid

Mermaid

A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...

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