6o 



WHITECHURCH CANONICORUM. 



torn edges seemed to shew 

 that the damage was not 

 recent ; apparently it had 

 been done some centuries 

 before. In the reliquary were 

 a number of large bones, a 

 good deal decayed, presum- 

 ably those of a small woman. 

 These were not disturbed in 

 their resting place, but one 

 of the bones which lay upper- 

 most, was measured and found 

 to be i3fins. long. The 

 larger fragments found on 

 the floor of the coffin were 

 placed with the bones in the 



reliquary, and all the smaller fragments and dust reverently 

 collected into a small metal box and placed within the coffin. 

 One side of the reliquary was complete and undamaged, and on 

 it was found cast in similar raised letters on the lead the follow- 

 ing inscription : 



&e -see 



(Here lie the remains of Saint Wita.) 



The whole of the relics were carefully replaced in the stone 

 coffin, the broken end being securely cemented in its place. 

 Formerly, it is said, there was a painted inscription on the 

 stone front of the tomb, but the only words decipherable were : 

 Candida ........ Candidiorque ..... 



Now the great question of interest is : Who is this S. Wita, or 

 Candida ? Certain theories have been propounded from time to 

 time, to account for her origin and the presence of her bones at 

 Whitechurch, but none of these can so far be proved to be more 



