6th century (?); in Cornwall he has feast days on February 9 and June 6;
January 19 may be the day of the translation of his relics. Saint
Branwallader was a Celtic or Welsh monk, who is said to have been a
bishop in Jersey. It is believed that Branwallader worked with
Saint Samson (f.d. July 28)
in Cornwall and the Channel Islands, where he is
remembered at Jersey in St. Brelade. He may also have travelled with
Samson to Brittany in northern France. In the Exeter martyrology,
Branwallader is described a the son of the Cornish king, Kenen.
King Athelstan, who founded Milton Abbey in Dorset, obtained some of the
saint's relics (an arm or head) from Breton clerics fleeing Northmen and
translated them to Milton Abbey in 935. William Worcestre claimed that
the body itself was at Branston, Devon, and Leland referred to a chapel
of St. Breward near Seaton.
The cultus of Saint Branwallader has been strong at least from the 10th
century, when his name could be found in litanies. His feast was kept at
Winchester, Exeter, and Cornwall. In Brittany, he has sometimes been
confused with
Saint Brendan (f.d. May 16)
and
Saint Brannock (f.d. January 7)
(
Benedictines,
Farmer).