Holy Well, Basford, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire

Holy Well (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SK 553 427

Archaeology & History

First mentioned in place-name records from 1409, this seemingly lost sacred well could be found in the south-side of St. Leodegarius’s churchyard.  It was filled-in sometime in the 19th century when the ground around it collapsed to some considerable depth, so the hole was covered.  Despite this, water kept re-appearing on and off over the decades and, in Bob Morrell’s (1988) holy wells survey, he told that following constant heavy rains in 1987, it was filled in for the last time.

References:

1. Bailey, Thomas, Annals of Nottinghamshire, Simpkin Marshall: London 1853.
2. Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, Allen & Stenton, F.M., The Place-Names of Nottinghamshire, Cambridge University Press 1940.
3. Harte, Jeremy, English Holy Wells – 3 volumes, Heart of Albion press: Wymeswold 2008.
4. Morrell, Robert, Nottinghamshire Holy Wells and Springs, Nottingham 1988.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian