Tag: England

Mineral Well, Upper Norwood, Surrey

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Healing Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – TQ 318 703

Archaeology & History

This was one of several so-called mineral springs in and around the Norwood area, but seemingly the least well-known—certainly in literary terms.  Whatever renown it may once have had was overwhelmed by the relative proximity of the much more famous curative waters of the Beulah Spa, a few hundred yards to the southeast.  It was mentioned, albeit briefly and already in the past tense, in John Anderson’s (1898) survey, when he told that “There used to be (a) mineral well at Biggin Hill. It is marked on the Croydon Inclosure Map” of 1800 and shown as a “Spring”, north of Biggens Farm.  It seems that it had only just been destroyed when Anderson wrote about it, as the research of Alfie Foord (1910) showed. His inquiries found that,

“There used to be another mineral well about half a mile to the north-west of Beulah Spa, at Biggin Hill, the water from which gushed up at the rate of seven gallons a minute.  In 1898 it was closed.  The subjoined analysis of water from a well, which is at White Lodge, Biggin Hill, formerly the residence of Mr. H. Wilson Holman, was kindly supplied by him to the writer in 1907.  This well, he says, undoubtedly taps the same spring that used to come out at the bottom of Biggin Hill, and which was blocked by the sanitary authorities in 1898.  The site of the spring was beyond the small tenement houses at the bottom of the hill, and there is still some masonry in existence—the end of the culvert where the water used to run out into a pond.  The reason of its being blocked was that it is alleged to have poisoned some domestic animal.”

References:

  1. Anderson, John C., The Great North Wood, Blades: London 1898.
  2. Foord, Alfred Stanley, Springs, Streams and Spas of London: History and Association, T. Fisher Unwin: London 1910.
  3. Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, A. & Stenton, F.M., The Place-Names of Surrey, Cambridge University Press 1934.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Maiden’s Well, Launceston, Cornwall

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Holy Well (destroyed):  OS Grid reference – SX 3285 8477

Archaeology & History

Very little is known about this holy well on the north-western side of town that was apparently destroyed sometime in the 19th century; for when the Ordnance Survey lads visited here in 1882, they found no running water but only the location of where it had been and they indicated this on their 1884 map of the area, marked as “Site of.”

Site of well on 1884 map

It was first mentioned in a short topographical notice in 1582, which told that the “Magden Well in the Quarrie Haye”—along with another well—was “found to be in decay.” (Peter 1885)  Then, when the Ordnance Survey lads resurveyed the area once more in 1951, they could find no trace of it.  It was mentioned in passing in Peter’s (1885) local history work, but there seems to be little else written about the place, which is a little odd for this part of the world.  Anyone know anything more…?

References:

  1. Peter, Richard, The Histories of Launceston and Dunheved, W. Brendon: Plymouth 1885.

Acknowledgements:  Big thanks for use of the early edition OS-map in this site profile, Reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Holy Well, Lawhitton, Cornwall

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Holy Well:  OS Grid reference – SX 3546 8252

Archaeology & History

Site shown on 1882 OS-map

Highlighted on the 1882 OS-map several hundred yards north of St. Michael’s church, this site seems to have fallen back to Earth as no remains of it have been found in recent visits.  It was described in Charles Henderson’s (1914) notes as the “holy well at Barton Farm”, and was visited by J. Meyrick (1982) in April of 1980, who told that it could be found by taking “the track immediately east of Lawhitton church which runs through the farm of Mr Lancaster…  After going through the yard proceed ¼ mile down track to the valley where you reach a stream and the Well is on the right.”  It was sought after by Cheryl Straffon (1998) but following her visit to find the Well she told that “there was nothing now to see except a kind of natural basin by the small bridge.”

References:

  1. Henderson, Charles, Notebooks of Parochial Antiquities, Unpublished MS 1914.
  2. Meyrick, J., A Pilgrims Guide to the Holy Wells of Cornwall, Falmouth 1982.
  3. Straffon, Cheryl, Fentynyow Kernow: In Search of Cornwall’s Holy Wells, Meyn Mamvro: Penzance 1998.

Acknowledgements:  Big thanks for use of the early edition OS-map in this site profile, Reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland. 

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Hawksworth Spring (01), Hawksworth, West Yorkshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 15767 41195

Getting Here

Looking down on the stone

Through Baildon town centre, take the road onto Baildon Moor, but instead of turning left up to Baildon Hill, keep straight on the Hawksworth road and 100 yards along you’ll see a car-park is on the right-hand side, just before you start going downhill.  From here, walk down the road a couple of hundred yards until you see the footpath (keep your eyes peeled!) turning right towards The Whitehouse, and from there take the footpath dead straight down to the woods below.  Cross the stream, turn right, then immediately left uphill by the wall-side.  Shortly before reaching the top you’ll see a large triangular sloping slab of rock with a tree at its top.  That’s it!   Alternatively you can come via Hawksworth village by following the directions to the Hawksworth Spring (02) carving, which is just 10 yards east of this one.  Easy!

Archaeology & History

Sketch of carving (after Hedges 1986)
Note the faint cup, top-right

This minimalist design is best seen from above the adjacent rock which, in times gone by, was attached to this very same stone.   The main aspect of the carving are the two short rows of three cups, running almost alongside each other, in a likeness which my compatriot Liz Sykes said “was like some animal footprints.” It’s not a bad description to be honest (this same motif is found on a companion petroglyph just a few yards to the east: the Hawksworth Spring [2] stone).  If you follow the direction of the “animal tracks” to the western end of the stone, you’ll see another isolated cup with a faint incomplete ring around it.  You can just make it out on the photo to the right.  Another single cup-mark seems apparent two-thirds the way down the stone.

References:

  1. Hedges, John (ed.), The Carved Rocks on Rombalds Moor, WYMCC: Wakefield 1986.

Acknowledgements:  Huge thanks to Liz Sykes for her renowned cleaning skills!

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Brackendale Mills, Thackley, Bradford, West Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone (missing):  OS Grid Reference – SE 1687 3868

Archaeology & History

Sketch of the missing cup-marked stone

This carving was originally located somewhere close to the old disused Brackenhall Mills on the edge of Thackley, just before you drop down to Thackley tunnel.  It was uprooted sometime in the 1950s and taken several miles away to the Cartwright Hall Museum at Manningham, Bradford, where it sat outdoors behind some fencing for many a-year, accompanied by the large fossil of an ancient tree.

I first saw it there when I lived close by in 1981, in the days before I had such a thing as a camera.  Hence I only have this scruffy old sketch of the design, which I did without adding any notes to help remind me which carving it was!  So this sketch has sat, all-but-forgotten, on a scrap of paper since then, until I recently sussed out which carving it was!

The stone itself was akin to a very large portable rock, with a simplistic design consisting of at least nine cup-marks cut into one of the rounded faces.  One account of the stone suggested there may have been a possible incomplete ring around one of the cups.  When I went back to see the stone about 20 years ago, it had gone.  So I called into the adjacent museum to inquire what had become of it.  The curator (or whoever it was) that I spoke with told me that the stone had been put into a box and placed in the cellars, but refused to let me see it.  I asked to make an appointment to see the stone and he refused that too.  It has not been seen since.  Does anyone know what’s become of it?

References:

  1. Keighley, J.J., “The Prehistoric Period,” in Faull & Moorhouse’s, West Yorkshire: An Archaeological Survey to AD 1500 (WYMCC: Wakefield 1981).
  2. Yorkshire Observer, January 17, 1953

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

 

 

Raven Stones (east), Thruscross, North Yorkshire

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Cup-Marked Stone:  OS Grid Reference – SE 12000 57932

Getting Here

Ravenstones (east)

Take the A59 road from Harrogate and Skipton and at the very top of the moors near the Gill Head Enclosures, take the small Kex Ghyll road up past the disused quarry works north for a mile or so. At the junction go left for about 1½ miles where, on your left, is Burnt House farm.  A hundred yards past here is a small spot to park on the right-hand side of the road, opposite the gate to Rocking Hall House (make sure you leave enough room for tractors to pass you!).  Across the road is the track to Rocking Hall and, 2 miles along the track, look out for the copse of trees ½-mile NE.  Head towards it and, as you get close to the wall, walk slowly downhill towards the stream where a single block of stone lives.  You’ll find it!

Archaeology & History

Design from above

Rediscovered on Rocking Moor by Rod Chambers on August 15, 2023, this reasonably large sloping block of stone has between 21 and 24 cups cut quite deeply and scattered erratically into it, very similar to one some 200 yards to the northwest (Raven Stones carving 559).  It seems pretty obvious that some of these cups were Nature’s handiwork, but have been modified by human hands.   There’s nothing complex about it, but there may be a semi-circular arc around one of the cups, centre-left of the natural crack that cuts across the top of the stone, but this is very faint and could be just a trick of the eyes.  Going there at sunrise and wetting the stone might tell us for sure.

Acknowledgements:  Big thanks to Rod Chambers for use of his photo in this site profile.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Scout Willie’s Well, Idle, Bradford, West Yorkshire

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Healing Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference –SE 1672 3866

Archaeology & History

Along the footpath below the family graveyard at Thackley, the great genealogist and industrial historian J.H. Turner (1878) told that, “at the right hand side of the wood, at the bottom, is Scout Willie’s Well, formerly noted for its medicinal properties” – though whatever curative aspects it possessed have long since been forgotten.  It was also known as the Sweet Willie Well.  I perused the woodlands here searching for the well in my younger days but could find no trace of it; nor is anything shown on the early OS-maps of the area.  

References:

  1. Turner, J. Horsfall, Idle Upper Chapel Registers and Graveyard Inscriptions, Bingley 1878.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Briery Wood, Ilkley, West Yorkshire

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Cup-and-Ring Stone (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SE 0965 4797

Archaeology & History

In Ronald Morris’ (1989) gazetteer of British petroglyphs, he included this curious entry but gave no real details regarding its appearance or history.  Listed by the Royal Commission lads, it would seem to have been located immediately south of the dismantled railway where it used to cross the Addingham-Ilkley road, but no one seems to have seen it either before or since Morris’ description.  Any help regarding its whereabouts would be appreciated.

References:

  1. Boughey, Keith & Vickerman, E.A., Prehistoric Rock Art of the West Riding, WYAS: Wakefield 2003.
  2. Morris, Ronald W.B., “The Prehistoric Rock Art of Great Britain: A Survey of All Sites Bearing Motifs more Complex than Simple Cup-marks,” in Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, volume 55, 1989.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

Holy Well, Nether Heyford, Northamptonshire

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Holy Well (lost):  OS Grid Reference – SP 66 59 (approximate)

Archaeology & History

In George Baker’s (1822) massive regional history work he spoke of the village being “well supplied with springs, one of which, called Holywell, is medicinal.”  But it would seem to have fallen foul of that thing called progress, as no one has spoken of it since then.  When the Northampton historian, Beeby Thompson, looked for the site early in the 20th century, his enquiries drew a blank and he reported simply that “at the present time no one in the village appears to know of such a well.”  A field-name survey of the area may prove worthwhile…

References:

  1. Baker, George, The History and Antiquities of the County of Northampton, J.B. Nichols: London 1822.
  2. Harte, Jeremy, English Holy Wells – volume 2, HOAP: Wymeswold 2008.
  3. Thompson, Beeby, “Peculiarities of Waters and Wells,” in Journal Northamptonshire Natural History Society, volume 17, 1914.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian

St. George’s Well, Harrogate, North Yorkshire

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Holy Well (destroyed):  OS Grid Reference – SE 2997 5561

Also Known as:

  1. St. George’s Spa

Archaeology & History

About 50 yards away from the Royal Promenade on the east-side of Parliament Street, there used to flow the healing waters of an old holy well, that later became one of Harrogate’s many spa wells.  It was first recognized as a medicinal spring about 1792 when Thomas Garnett (1794) uncovered it beneath the overgrowth of vegetation surrounding the spring-head.  In doing so, it became evident that at some time in the past it had been used by local people as,

“a wall was discovered round the spring, but whether this had been built with an idea of its being a medicinal water, or with an intention of collecting water for cattle, I cannot determine.”

Chalybeate (iron-bearing) in nature, the waters were analyzed by Adam Hunter (1830) in the 1820s and, although possessed of soluble iron, had less than its medicinal compatriots nearby, meaning that its fortifying qualities weren’t quite as good. He told us how,

“it had been known (by locals) for many years, but at no time much used internally; it had acquired some celebrity however as a wash for sore eyes, for which purpose it was well adapted.  As chalybeate water has long been a favourite popular remedy for a wash in various weaknesses, and chronic affections of the eyes, it is proper to state that (the nearby) John’s Well, the Tewit Spa, or the succeeding one at Starbeck, are the only three chalybeates which can at present be recommended for that purpose.”

A few years after Hunter had been here, the well was destroyed “by the making of a highway drain.” (Jennings 1981)

Folklore

St George (saint’s day – April 23) was one of the christian dragon-killers.  There is no known tradition of the saint or festivities that may once have occured here.

References:

  1. Garnett, Thomas, A Treatise on the Mineral Waters of Harrogate, Thomas Gill: Leeds 1794.
  2. Hunter, Adam, The Waters of Harrogate and its Vicinity, Langdale: Harrogate 1830.
  3. Jennings, Bernard, A History of the Wells and Springs of Harrogate, Interprint: Harrogate 1981.

© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian