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Starting his adult life as a soldier he then became a monk at Glastonbury
Abbey, where he was ordained and became sacristan there. He then departed to
become a hermit first in Cornwall and then near Bodmin Moor. It is said that he
had a strange way with animals and birds and that he worked miracles with them.
Tradition states that King Alfred visited him for his counsel and it is in a
book about St. Neot that we read about King Alfred burning the cakes when hiding
from the Danes at Athelney
He was canonised a saint for his good work caring for the poor. There are
many churches dedicated to St Neot and at least one Holy Well. The Roman
Catholic Church celebrates his feast day on July 21st. It is said he was only
four feet tall, he became known as the Pygmy Saint. He died in 877 of natural
causes.
There are supposed relics of St Neot that used to be in the Medieval Friary
that are now in St Neot's Church and some in the Abbey of Bec, Normandy, France.
There is a large mosaic of St Neot in the Market Place |
