Hybald

Who is Hybald?

Saint Hybald. also known as Saint Higbald, Hibald or Hygbald was a 7th-century Saxon saint, who died circa 690.

The Venerable Bede tells of a St. Hygbald who was a Benedictine abbot in the old Kingdom of Lindsey and it is believed to be buried in the village of Hibaldstow, whose name means place where St Hygbald is buried.

Bede in his Ecclesiastical History describes St Hybald as a "most holy and continent man who was an abbot in Lindsey" and a friend of Saint Chadd, he followed his living example and became an hermit. After his death and canonisation, a shrine was built to hold his relics and became a place of pilgrimage. This continued till Protestants after the Reformation destroyed the shrine, but not his body, continued to lie under the church in Hibaldstow until it was rediscovered in 1866 when the then dilapidated temple was rebuilt.

Several churches in the region bear his name: The Anglican Parish Churches of Hibaldstow and nearby Scawby and, further away, Ashby de la Launde, are all called St. Hybald's.

His Namesdays are 18 September and 14 December.