Her father was a wealthy landowner named Benna, who died leaving his daughter in the care of a cruel stepmother, who was jealous of her beauty and virtue and coveted her inheritance.

The Catalogus Sanctorum Pausantium in Anglia says she was beheaded by a couple of corn reapers, hired to do so by her stepmother.

Her ghost was reputedly seen carrying her severed head and putting it back on her shoulders at the spot where she was later buried.

[3] (The springs at St Sidwell's had existed since Roman times, and had been tapped for the needs of the city with the water piped via wooden aqueducts to supply the citadel.

[1] The Church of St Sidwell, located just outside the site of Exeter's east gate, is still extant, though it was largely rebuilt after being bombed during the Second World War.