Wulfric was born at
Compton Martin, ten miles south of
Bristol. After becoming a priest, he at first exercised his ministry at Deverill, near
Warminster. At this stage he was apparently much addicted to hunting, with both hawks and hounds. A chance conversation with a beggar, however, converted him to more godly pursuits, and he moved back to Compton Martin as parish priest. In the year 1125, Wulfric came to
St Michael and All Angels Church in
Haselbury Plucknett, Somerset. He wished to spend the rest of his life as an anchorite, withdrawn from the world, living in a cell adjacent to the church. This cell stood on the cold northern side of the chancel where the
vestry is now. Although he apparently failed to obtain episcopal permission for this move, he was supported by the
Cluniac monks at
Montacute. Soon, people came to him for guidance and blessing. During the reigns of kings
Henry I and Stephen, Wulfric exercised a powerful influence, not only in his own neighbourhood but also at court. According to
Abbot John of Forde Abbey, Wulfric lived alone in these simple quarters for 29 years, devoting much of his time to reading the Bible and praying. In keeping with the ideals of medieval spirituality, he adopted stern ascetic practices: he deprived himself of sleep, ate a frugal and meatless diet, spent hours reciting the psalms sitting in a bath of cold water, and wore a hair shirt and heavy chain-mail tunic. One of the most influential anchorite priests of medieval England, he died in his cell on 20 February 1154. At his death, a scuffle occurred in and around St. Michael's between black-robed Norman Cluniac monks from Montacute and common folk from Haselbury and
Crewkerne who had been summoned by Osbern, the priest of Haselbury. The monks maintained that providing food for the anchorite, which they had done for many years, gave them a claim to the holy man's mortal remains. But the locals forced them to withdraw and Wulfric was buried in his cell by the
bishop of Bath who had visited him at his death-bed. For security reasons, Osbern moved Wulfric's remains twice, until they came to rest somewhere near the west end of the church, "...in a place known only to himself and God". ==Legacy==