Infourteenth-centuryEngland,peasantgirlChristineCarpenterissoattractedtoastatueoftheVirginMarythatthelocalpriest(wholustsafterher)suggestsshebewalledupinthechurchasananchoress,aholywomanwithresponsibilityforblessingthevillagers.ButwhenthepriesthasChristine'smothertriedasawitch,shedigsherselfoutofhercell,acrimeforwhichthepunishmentisdeath.