Towns linked by 8th Century saint officially twin

Saint Lull was educated at Malmesbury's monastery - the Norman abbey in the town is younger but is what remains of the monastery

A Cotswold town has officially twinned with a German one, both linked by a saint who lived 1,300 years ago.

The Mayor of Malmesbury, in Wiltshire, signed the formal agreement with Bad Hersfeld on a visit to Germany on 15 October.

The towns are connected through Saint Lull, a monk from Wessex who was educated at Malmesbury Abbey before going to Germany and becoming an Archbishop.

He is considered the founder of Bad Hersfeld and a festival is held there every year in his honour which is said to be the oldest folk festival in the country.

Saint Lull is an important figure in the town of Bad Hersfeld, Germany, with a background in Malmesbury

A close companion of Saint Boniface, Lull became Archbishop of Mainz after him in the 8th Century.

He also re-founded the monastery in Hersfeld.

At the annual festival, which attracts thousands of people, the Lullus flame is burned, as a symbol of the exemption of local taxes for the length of the festival.

Bad Hersfeld even has a Malmesbury Place, complete with a British red phone box.

Malmesbury Platz in Bad Hersfeld has a British red phone box

In 2016, there was a friendship agreement between the two towns.

This new more official agreement was also signed by the Malmesbury Mayor's equivalent in the German town - Burgermeisterin Anke Hofmann.

He said: "The right time has come to take another important step together in the connection between our two towns - towards a lasting English-German town twinning in a common Europe."

Malmesbury mayor Phil Exton said: “We have a long association with the town and are looking forward to building on that and forging even stronger links.”

The Lullus flame is part of the festival

Malmesbury has a number of connections with other places internationally.

It is twinned with Neibul in Germany too, Gien in France and has links with its namesake in South Africa.

Recently, Malmesbury also signed a friendship agreement with the Ukrainian city of Cherkasy.