Hilda of Whitby - Legacy

Legacy

Hilda was succeeded as abbess by Eanflæd, widow of King Oswiu, and their daughter, Ælfflæd. From then onward we know nothing about the abbey at Whitby until it was destroyed by the Danish invaders in 867.

After the Norman conquest of England that began in 1066 AD, monks from Evesham re-founded the abbey as a Benedictine house for men. Thus it continued until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII in 1539.

A local legend says that when sea birds fly over the abbey they dip their wings in honour of Saint Hilda. Another legend tells of a plague of snakes which Hilda turned to stone, supposedly explaining the presence of ammonite fossils on the shore; heads were carved onto these 'petrified snakes' to honour this legend. In fact, the ammonite genus Hildoceras takes its scientific name from St. Hilda. It was not unknown for local “artisans” to carve snakes' heads onto ammonites, and sell these “relics” as proof of her miracle. The coat of arms of nearby Whitby includes three such 'snakestones', and depictions of ammonites appear in the shield of the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham. A carved ammonite stone is set into the wall by the entrance to the former chapel of St Hild's College, Durham, which later became part of the College of St Hild and St Bede.

From the late nineteenth century until the present day, there has been a revival of interest in and devotion to, St. Hilda. With the development of education for modern women she has become the patron of many schools and colleges all over the world. The College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham, St Hilda's College, Oxford and St Hilda's College (University of Melbourne) and St Hilda's Collegiate School, Dunedin are named after Saint Hilda. Hilda is considered one of the patron saints of learning and culture, including poetry, due to her patronage of Cædmon.

Two churches in Whitby, (Roman Catholic and Anglican), have been dedicated under her patronage and another, in Bilsborrow, Lancashire.

There is an Anglican church named after St. Hilda in the Cross Green area of Leeds. It was opened in September 1882. There is a statue of St. Hilda in the nave, depicting her as the Mother of her Abbey at Whitby. She also appears in a stained glass window at the east end of the church. The church still is active and a sung mass is held there every Sunday. Several small streets in the immediate area are named after the church - St. Hilda's Mount, St. Hilda's Road, among them.

Since 1915 at St. Hilda's Priory, Sneaton Castle, on the western edge of Whitby town, there has been a community of Anglican sisters - the Order of the Holy Paraclete - which draws inspiration from the monastic and educational ideals of St. Hilda. More recently, the Community of St. Aidan and St. Hilda has been founded on Lindisfarne.

In the Roman Catholic church, the feast day of St. Hilda is November 17, in some parts of the Anglican Communion, her feast is on November 18, in some others, such as the Anglican Church of Australia and the Anglican Church of Canada, it is on November 17. In the Church of England however, it is kept on November 19. In the calendar approved for the Anglican Use in the Roman Catholic Church, the feast day of St. Hilda is celebrated on June 23, together with those of St. Etheldreda, Abbess of Ely, d. 679, and St. Mildred, Abbess of Minster-in-Thanet, d. c.700.

On the upper west side of Manhattan in New York City is St. Hilda's and St. Hugh's School. St. Hilda’s and St. Hugh’s School is an independent Episcopal day school that opened its doors in 1950. The school is coeducational and includes toddlers through grade eight.

St.Hilda's College at the University of Melbourne was founded in 1964 as the college for women associated with the (then) exclusively male colleges Ormond (Presbyterian) and Queens (Methodist), becoming co-educational in 1973.

St. Hilda's College, University of Toronto is the women's college of University of Trinity College. Although the schools have long been merged, only recently has the formerly women-only residence been made co-educational. Saint Hilda is honoured as co-patron (with Our Lady) of the Lady Chapel where daily services are held by Trinity's Faculty of Divinity.

There are two schools situated in Australia in recognition of St. Hilda. They are both 'St. Hilda's Anglican School for Girls' which is an independent, girls' school in Southport, South-East Australia and Mosman Park, Western Australia. (http://www.sthildas.qld.edu.au/) and (http://www.sthildas.wa.edu.au/).

St. Hilda is the patron saint of the National Cathedral School for Girls in Washington, D.C.

St. Hilda also is famous in Singapore, being honored in St. Hilda's Primary and Secondary schools.

St. Hilda's Diocesan High School is an Anglican boarding school for girls in Brown's Town, St. Ann, Jamaica. The grade levels go up to Fifth Form. The school was founded by Canon James Philip Hall, who was then Rector of St. Mark's Anglican Church in Brown's Town, in 1906-1907.