St. Walstan was a 10th Century East Anglian of royal blood. His parents were Benedict and Blida".
He was born in 975. When thirteen he renounced his wealth and travelled north where he got a job on a farm near Bawburgh in Norfolk. There he worked hard for only his keep. Anything more he gave to the poor and needy that he met as he went about his work. His employers, the farmer Nalga and his wife, worried about his taking no wages and pressed him to accept their gift of two white calves.
In his last years Walstan had many visions and finally one that foretold his death. In this event, he instructed Nalga to place his body on a cart, pulled by his two white oxen, which were to be left to go free.
Walstan died in 1016 (aged 41) and according to his wishes the oxen were left free to draw the cart unguided. The animals set off and stopped only three times, each time a spring appearing.
Finally they came to a stop in the centre of Bawburgh where Walstan was buried, and soon afterwards he was declared a saint and patron of farm workers and agriculture.
Norman Davis