About Us
White Horse Wares was established in 2022 with a blessing from Father Paul Elliott, by 3 Orthodox members of the laity in England; Oswald, John and Aaron. We are all converts to the faith, and have been overjoyed to see how Orthodoxy has been growing in the UK as of late. We have noticed however, that there is a sincere lack of places to buy Orthodox goods within the UK, such as icons, books etc.. Whenever we wanted to buy any of these things, we often had to import them from abroad, incurring fairly steep shipping costs in the process. Of course, many of us can’t really afford to do this too often, so we decided that it would be a good idea to start a shop selling Orthodox goods right here in the UK!
We are looking to improve our service as much as we possibly can, so any suggestions are very much welcome. They can be submitted to info@whitehorseware.co.uk
What’s with the name?
“White Horse” is in relation to the patron saint of our shop, Saint Alfred the Great of Wessex. He was known as an extremely pious, merciful and courageous leader who put all his hope in God, and he truly lived a life one would expect of an Orthodox monarch. With God’s aid, he was able to repel the invading pagan forces from our lands. His first great victory was obtained at the battle of Ashdown, as a young prince of only 21 years old. The site of the battle is contested, but many affirm that it was fought at White Horse Hill, a site shrouded in much mystery located in Oxfordshire, England.
If you would like to read more about the life of Saint Alfred, we would strongly recommend a book called “The White Horse King” by Benjamin R. Merkle. Although Merkle himself is not Orthodox (at least as far as I’m aware as of writing this), in reading this work, it is quite evident (for one who is well versed in the Orthodox lives of saints) to see how Saint Alfred lived an Orthodox life pleasing to God, comparable to other great Orthodox monarchs, such as St. King Oswald of Northumbria, St. Emperor Justinian and St. Tsar Nicholas II. Unfortunately (and somewhat ironically) we don’t sell the book in this shop as of right now, but, God willing, we will in the future.
In Christ,
Aaron, Oswald and John
