Seeking greater solitude, Nectan and his companions left Wales, intending to settle wherever their boat happened to land.

[3] At Hartland, Nectan lived in the solitude of a remote valley where he helped a swineherd recover his lost pigs and in turn was given a gift of two cows.

According to legend, he rang a silver bell in times of stormy weather to warn shipping of the perils of the rocks at the mouth of the Rocky Valley.

A young man from Hartland felt himself afflicted with the plague and called upon God and St Nectan to help him.

[3] After Nectan's death, a considerable cult grew up around his shrine and this continued to be popular throughout the Middle Ages, supported both by Saxon kings and Norman lords.

Lyfing, Bishop of Crediton, approved the translation of his body as an accomplished fact, providing bells, lead for the roof, and a sculptured reliquary for the church.

The church and shrine were restored and in the possession of the Augustinian canons from the adjoining Hartland Abbey from the 12th century until such monastic orders were disestablished during the Reformation.