Stunning window display celebrates origin of Frome and poses a riddle
Local author, artist and medievalist Amy Jeffs and artist and illustrator Gwen Burns have created a window display in a vacant shop unit on Cheap Street, marking the origin story of Frome by St Aldhelm. ‘The Origin Legend of Frome’ fills six windows at the far end of Cheap Street, in the former Amica unit.
The display invites people to solve one of the riddles for which St Aldhelm was renowned: the person who solves the riddle by Cheap Street’s late-night shopping event on 19 December will win a copy of Amy and Gwen’s new book ‘Old Songs: Stories of Love and Death from Traditional Ballads’, donated by Hunting Raven Books.
Amy Jeffs said: “The legend blends historical and folkloric tales of St Aldhelm, who built a monastery on the river Frome over 1300 years ago. The market town then grew up around the monastery and church. The windows celebrate Cheap Street as one of England’s oldest trading streets, as well as Aldhelm’s fame as a riddler, singer, lover of rivers and springs, champion of community and – so the story goes – rider of a fire-eating horse that could run swifter than thought.”
Cllr Anita Collier said: “We have a fantastic creative community here in Frome – what a wonderful showcase of their talents. It’s sad to see an empty shop, especially one the size of our much-missed Amica, so seeing it transformed into something beautiful, sharing the fascinating history of St Aldhelm and our town is just brilliant! Thank you to Amy Jeffs and Gwen Burns for bringing it to us and the team at Hunting Raven for donating a prize. Cheap Street is opening for late-night shopping on Thursday 19 December: please do come down to do your Christmas shopping – and do send your riddle solutions to us beforehand for a chance to win the book!”
St Aldhelm’s feast day is celebrated annually on 28 May and further activities are planned to mark to 2026 anniversary.
Amy Jeffs is the author of books including ‘Storyland: A New Mythology of Britain’, ‘Wild: Tales from Early Medieval Britain’ and ‘Saints: Medieval Legends of Heroes, Humans and Magic’. Her latest book ‘Old Songs: Stories of Love and Death from Traditional Ballads’ is co-authored with Gwen Burns. Composer Natalie Brice has set the ballads to original music.
All Amy Jeffs’ books are available from Hunting Raven Books and Sherlock and Pages on Catherine Hill. Send guesses to St Aldhelm’s riddle to info@frometowncouncil.gov.uk by 19 December. The winner will receive a copy of the book, donated by Hunting Raven.
