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Maildulph
Malmesbury - History
Maildulph was a 7th century Irish-Celt monk who founded a Hermits Cell (settlement where a group of Christian Hermits would live religiously, in seclusion) on the site of the present Abbey in around the year 600. He also became a famous religious teacher, founding a small monastery school for sons of the nobility. He either retired or died around 675, to be succeeded by Aldhelm who would later become the town’s first Abbot.
There has been much debate and discussion over the origins of the name ‘Malmesbury’, but it is generally accepted that it derives from a corruption of ‘Maildulph’. Some have suggested that it is a combination of two names, those of Maildulph and Aldhelm.
Sources:-
Hodge, Dr. Bernulf., A History of Malmesbury (5th Edition; The Friends of Malmesbury Abbey, Minety: 1990).
Luce, Major-General Sir Richard H., The History of the Abbey and Town of Malmesbury (The Friends of Malmesbury Abbey, Minety: 1979).
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