Arilda

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Saint Arilda
Martyr
Born	unknown, possibly Gloucestershire or Wales
Died	probably 5th century, Oldbury-on-Severn, Gloucestershire
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church; Anglican Communion
Major shrine	St Peter's Abbey, Gloucester (destroyed)
Feast	20 July
Patronage	Oldbury-on-Severn and Oldbury-on-the-Hill, Gloucestershire
Saints Portal

Saint Arilda a little-known female saint from Oldbury-on-Severn in the English county of Gloucestershire. She probably lived in the 5th or 6th century and may have been of either Anglo-Saxon or Welsh origin.

Arilda was a virgin martyr who, according to John Leland, was slain by a tyrant named Municus when she refused to lie with him. David Nash Ford suggests that she be identified with Afrella, the aunt of Saint Samson of Dol.[1]

Two churches in Gloucestershire are dedicated to Arilda, one at Oldbury-on-Severn near her traditional home, a second at Oldbury-on-the-Hill. Both places were called 'Aldberie' at the time of the Domesday Book, suggesting that their names may be derived from the saint.

There was a shrine to Arilda at St Peter's Abbey, Gloucester, which is now Gloucester Cathedral, but it was destroyed after the Dissolution of the Monasteries.