medieval history

Chapel Lane Well, Crawshawbooth, Rossendale, Lancashire

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Healing Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – SD 8136 2585

Archaeology & History

The name of this seemingly lost site—Chapel Lane Well—suggests it may have possessed that traditional ‘holy’ association, but neither custom nor history has bedecked us with information to give certainty to such an idea. Even the name of the road along which it was found was one ascribed only by local folk in the 19th Century, for the old maps show us it to have been Goodshaw Lane—but the locals in this neck o’ the woods preserved many an old way that fell foul of the boring Industrialist writers of that age. Except for one, thankfully!

J.M. Mather was a true ambling rambler like my self, wandering off-path, in all weathers, and dreaming by the chimes of swirling waters in stream and spring alike, moving betwixt the roars of biting gales in wintry heights and quietudes of moorland nights gazing at falling stars. And thankfully his pen left us with a smattering of old tales from the tongues of local folk not considered worthy by the Industrialists and christian historians of his time. Mather, instead, wrote of the actual history of Rossendale: of the ways of the people and moods of the hills…

The Chapel Lane Well was on the left-side of the road as you head up to Goodshaw Chapel, just where the track leads off up to Folly Bank Farm: “a quaint looking house”, even in his day! It was, he said, where “the legend of the Chapel Snake still survives.”

“Many years ago, when people came from the village beyond to draw from its waters, in the dusk of one evening an hysterical girl declared she saw a white snake in the liquid depths. The alarm soon spread, and for days none dared to approach, until the want of water and the toil entailed by having to wander further for it, led to a solemn conclave of villagers. Amongst those composing it was a doughty sexton, who, seeing the fears of his friends, declared that he would shoot the snake. Armed with his gun, he cautiously approached. Seeing what he supposed to be the snake, lying in serpentine form, white upon the waters, he fired ; but when a careful inspection was made, the object of delusion was found to be a knitted garter. This, in the depths of the well, and seen by an hysterical girl, had led to the panic, the heroism of a sexton, and the final amusement of the neighbourhood. The well is still there, and in use.”

But some time after Mather wrote those words, the waters were blocked and it has long since fallen into history. As if to compensate and still flowing, are waters not far from here that were known as the abode of the great and dreadful fairy creature known as Jenny Greenteeth!

References:

Mather, J. Marshall, Rambles Round Rossendale – volume 2, J.J. Riley: Rawtenstall 1894.

Village Cross, High Ackworth, West Yorkshire

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Cross: OS Grid Reference – SE 44073 18001

Getting Here

This old stone edifice is easy to find. As you’re going along the old A628 Pontefract Road through High Ackworth, just where the road junction takes you on the B6421 (Purston Lane), park up where the track takes you up to the church on the right. And there, just set back off the north-side of the road by the steps and curious old shelter, with the greenery and houses to the rear, you’ll see what you’re looking for.

Archaeology & History

Although this old village cross is set up on a three-tiered rise of steps, these steps are not as old as the cross remnant that surmounts it, as they were constructed in the 20th century. The final ‘step’ however—a part of the old cross-base—is much older. It’s precise age is unknown, but tradition relates it as being 16-17th Century.

Tradition relates the creation of the village cross to a great illness that befell the local villagers, whose tale was cited at some length by one of Ackworth’s early historians. It formerly stood beneath the boughs of a great elm tree, whose offspring are hopefully still around. Henry Thompson (1879) wrote:

The cross on the Green, 1870

Cross shown on 1852 map

“The Cross under the shadow of this kingly tree has a curious history in its keeping. From its steps, in the pre-Reformation times, the monks from the neighbouring priory at Nostel were wont on Fridays and Sundays to preach to the people. One of these, a man of noble soul and kindly heart, won the affections of the people in a wondrous manner. Children clung to his skirts in delight and love—the strong man admired and revered him, the old and weak reposed upon him as a pillar of strength and a tower of refuge. But business or piety called him to Rome. The villagers gave him their tears and he gave them his blessing. Under the shadow of the Vatican he was smitten by the Plague and died. Such was the love which his brethren of the Priory bore him, that they could not rest without having him sepultured in their midst. In its transit, the body passed through Ackworth; and nothing would satisfy the ignorant but faithful love of his old hearers but once more to see, even in death, the face of one who had loved them so well. The leaden coffin was opened, the village was stricken with the Plague and three or four hundred fell victims to the dread visitant.”

And it was here, wrote Saywell (1894) that,

“the Cross is said to have been erected on the exact spot where the body rested, to commemorate at once that event, and also the dire consequences which were permitted by God to flow from it. The date of its mutilation, the removal of the Cross, and the substitution of a ball (the emblem of the world), is generally ascribed to the time of the Great Rebellion.” (in 1642)

In addition to this, a Plague Stone was erected on the northern outskirt of the village, known as “the great stone on Castle Syke Hill”. Due to the condition of all the villagers, they became taboo to all who lived beyond Ackworth and so the old stone, said Thompson, became

“the only point of contact between them and the outer world. Upon that stone the Ackworth purchaser dropped his money into a vessel of water, for which, a few hours afterwards, he found his return in merchandise.”

The old Plague Stone can still be seen, a half-mile north of the village on the west-side of the Pontefract Road, just before Sandy Gate Lane….

References:

Saywell, J.L., The Parochial History of Ackworth, James Atkinson: Pontefract 1894.
Thompson, Henry, History of Ackworth School, Centenary Committee: Ackworth 1879.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.

St. Nicholas’ Well, Carlisle, Cumbria

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Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NY 405 551

Archaeology & History

On the far south-side of Botchergate running out of central Carlisle, could once be seen the Hospital of St. Nicholas that was mainly used for the treatment of lepers, and in a field very close by could once be found a healing well apparently dedicated to the saint, but which was destroyed following the construction of the railway through the town. It was described by a Mrs Cartmell to the historian Henry Barnes (1906) who told him that it “had a great reputation, its water being considered a valuable remedy for sore legs, or sores on any part of the body”—hence being of value in the treatment of leprosy.

The site was described briefly in McIntire’s (1944) holy wells survey, where he added that in the 19th Century, “it was still visited in May by people who filled their ‘shaking bottles’ with the water.” Beltane rites are common at holy wells. The feast day of St. Nicholas is December 6.

References:

Armstrong, A.M., Mawer, A., Stenton, F.M. & Dickins, B., The Place-Names of Cumberland – volume 1, Cambridge Univerity Press 1950.
Barnes, Henry, “On a Stone Coffin and Chalice found at St. Nicholas’, Carlisle,” in Transactions Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, volume 6 (Series 2), 1906.
McIntire, Walter T., “The Holy Wells of Cumberland,” in Transactions Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, volume 44 (New Series), 1944.

St. Helen’s Well, Botcherby, Carlisle, Cumbria

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Holy Well (lost): OS Grid Reference – NY 42 55

Also Known as:

St. Elena’s Well

Archaeology & History

There’s a possibility that some trace of this seemingly lost sacred well might still be found. It was first described in 1233 CE as the fountain of St. Ellen and the land hereby was given to monks who lived here. The stream which emerged from St. Helen’s fountain (fontis Sanctæ Elenæ), or well, was known as “the stream of the Holy Fountain of St. Elena”, and this was also mentioned in the same 13th Century charters, but sadly no traditions regarding the site were mentioned. The waters however, were likely venerated around St. Helen’s feast day, of August 18.

The Well was found to the east-side of old Botcherby village (now swallowed into the expanding Carlisle suburbia), heading towards Scotby, with the description in the Charter indicating its source was much closer to Botcherby, perhaps just over the old township boundary.

When Walt McIntire (1944) did his survey of the region’s holy wells, he was as unsure about its location as I am, merely telling:

“”St. Helena’s Spring,” mentioned in a charter of Walter of Botcherby to the monks of Wetheral c. 1235 as situate between Botcherby and Scotby.”

So where was it? —or is it? Are there any Carlisle historians out there who’ve found its hallowed spot…? (Note: the grid-ref I’ve given to this site is obviously an approximation)

References:

Armstrong, A.M., Mawer, A., Stenton, F.M. & Dickins, B., The Place-Names of Cumberland – volume 1, Cambridge Univerity Press 1950.
McIntire, Walter T., “The Holy Wells of Cumberland,” in Transactions Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, volume 44 (New Series), 1944.
Prescott, J.E. (ed.), Registry of the Priory of Wetherhal, Elliot Stock: London 1897.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.

St. Cuthbert’s Well, Carlisle, Cumbria

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Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NY 400 559

Archaeology & History

In Walt McIntire’s (1944) survey of Cumbrian holy wells, he mentioned this one, long since covered over, near the middle of the old city, saying:

“‘St. Cuthbert’s Well,’” recorded by Bede in his account of St. Cuthbert’s visit to Carlisle in 685. The site of this well is supposed to have been in the market-place, near the premises now occupied by Messrs. Thurnam & Son. It was formerly protected by a curious erection known as Carnaby’s folly, which subsequently was used as a fish market, until it was removed by the Corporation.”

The old well was mentioned in Jefferson’s (1838) early survey of the city, although he didn’t associate St. Cuthbert with the waters, merely telling,

“At the north end of the shambles was a draw-well, over which was a building supported by pillars, called Carnaby’s Folly. Adjoining to this, was the fish market. The shambles and the Folly were taken down in the latter end of the last century the latter having been purchased, at a great price, by the corporation.”

There is however, the St. Cuthbert’s Lane leading to the church dedicated to the same chap, previously known as St. Cuthbert’s Vennel and so-named as far back as 1378 CE. The proximity of the old Market Cross to St. Cuthbert’s Lane suggests the usual association between sacred wells, old stone crosses and the gathering of traders and village folk alike.

Folklore

St Cuthbert’s feast was March 20 – a festival tacked on to the Spring Equinox. He was a hermit and a saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition.

References:

Armstrong, A.M., Mawer, A., Stenton, F.M. & Dickins, B., The Place-Names of Cumberland – volume 1, Cambridge Univerity Press 1950.
Jefferson, Samuel, The History and Antiquities of Carlisle, S. Jefferson: Carlisle 1838.
McIntire, Walter T., “The Holy Wells of Cumberland,” in Transactions Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society, volume 44 (New Series), 1944.

St. George’s Well, Taunton, Somerset

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Holy Well (lost): OS Grid Reference – ST 231 243

Also Known as:

Fons George

Archaeology & History

This once important holy well seems to have been lost or covered over. It was mentioned several times in Edward Jeboult’s (1873) huge survey of the county and he located it “to the south of the church” of St. George in Wilton where, in his day, a spring of water could be seen. He told that, in the parish of Taunton,

“was formerly a noted spring called Fons George, or St. George’s Well, to which the afflicted were accustomed to resort, and which tradition reports to have worked many marvellous cures. The site of this well seems now uncertain.”

In Ethelbert Horne’s (1923) survey, it seems he couldn’t locate the site as he gave no description of the well, but merely echoed the account given by Mr Jeboult. Does anyone know what happened to it?

References:

Horne, Ethelbert, Somerset Holy Wells and other Named Wells, Somerset Folk Series: London 1923.
Jeboult, Edward, A General Account of West Somerset, Somerset & Bristol Steam Press: Taunton 1873.

Tullypowrie, Strathtay, Perthshire

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Cross: OS Grid Reference – NN 91294 54500

Getting Here

From the red phone-box at the road junction in Strathtay village, walk aling the road, east (slightly downhill) for less than 50 yards then turn left and walk up the track. After 70-80 yards, keep your eyes peeled for the footpath that runs up the slope into the tgrees (don’t head to the house in front of you). After a half-mile you reach the gorgeous old Tullypowrie farmhouse on your left; keep walking uphill for another 300 yards until your reach a large tree on your left, above which, sat on some very low walling, you’ll see a small upright stone.

Archaeology & History

This little-known early christian carved stone, sitting on the vague remains of an old Roman Catholic church, located on what local folks used to call “the route to the stones” (meaning to the Clachan an Diridh, much to the minister’s considerable disdain), has had less said of it than the more ancient stone circle a little further up the footpath. But then, not much is known of either the carving or the church itself, whose remains can barely be seen amongst the grasses. But the upright ‘cross’ at least proclaims itself to the eye.

On our recent visit here, the crosses (on both side of the stone) were somewhat faint, as my photos show. But it wasn’t always this way. During a visit to nearby Aberfeldy in September 1900, the antiquarian Dave Landsborough (1901) found himself ambling about “among the ruins of a small hamlet” that was the olde settlement of Tullypowrie and came upon this little-known monument. He subsequently wrote an excellent description of the stone, which cannot be equalled. “The cross,” he told,

Landsborough’s sketch

“is of the rudest character, consisting of a schistose slab 30 inches in length, 11⅜ inches in width at the top, about half an inch wider at the bottom, and about 4½ inches in thickness. It is roughly squared at the top and sides, but at the bottom the base is unsquared, one side being longer than the other. On both faces of the slab a cross is formed by a shallow incised sinking, a little more than an inch in breadth, with circular sinkings slightly deeper than the rest of the outline at each corner of the shaft and summit of the cross, and at the intersections of the arms with the shaft and summit. The cross on the east face of the stone has its top almost level with the top of the slab, but the shaft does not reach nearly to the bottom. The top part of the cross above the arms is 4½ inches high by 4½ inches in width. The arms reach across the whole width of the slab, and the shaft is little more than the length of the part above the arms, the base being somewhat rounded. Below the termination of the shaft are two slight circular sinkings almost in line with the perpendicular outlines of the sides, but at unequal distances from their terminations, the one being 1½ inches and the other 2½ inches below the similar sinkings which mark the corners of the shaft. The cross on the west face of the slab is in every way similar, except that the shaft is longer, reaching to a length of 10½ inches below the arms, and the circular sinkings at the top are nearly effaced. It has, however, the curious feature of a slight cut-off at about the same length as the shaft of the other cross, but the circular sinkings occur at the top and bottom, and at the intersections as in the case of the other cross.

“The slab is not fastened in a socket, but is kept nearly erect leaning against a large stone, while smaller stones keep it firm at the back. I have since been told by the Rev. Mr McLean of Grandtully that the place where it stands is the site of an old and very little chapel, the south wall of which may still be recognised by its remaining foundations.”

On the other side of the burn from here was the great Whooping Cough Well, with the heathen Clach na Buidseach against the wall of Tullypowrie Farm just below (subsequently moved to the field west of the cross). These sites (and others nearby) and the animistic traditions associated with them, probably had something to do with the positioning of the church here, and the cross would be the attempt to give a Christian veneer to usurp the more archaic natural practices. We don’t know that for sure, but it’s more than likely. The old Logierait schoolmaster James Kennedy (1927) makes constant references to the animistic lore of the region, which was legion until quite recently.

No additional lore, sadly, is known of this old cross, which is deemed to be medieval in origin. Both Mitchell (1923) and Dixon (1925) make mention of the monument in their respective guidebooks, but add no further information.

References:

Dixon, John H., Pitlochry, Past and Present, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1925.
Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
Landsborough, David, “Rubbings of both Faces of an Erect Incised Cross-slab, at Tullypowrie, near Grandtully, Perthshire,” in Proceedings Society of Antiquaries, Scotland, volume 35, 1901.
Mitchell, Hugh, Pitlochry District: Its Topography, Archaeology and History, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1923.

Whooping Cough Well, Strathtay, Perthshire

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Healing Well: OS Grid Reference – NN 915 543

Also Known as:

Sput na-fruith-chasd

Getting Here

Park up at the red phone-box in Strathtay village (by the road junction) and walk east along the road (slightly downhill) for less than 50 yards, then turn left and walk up the track. 70-80 yards up, keep your eyes peeled for the distinct footpath on your right (don’t head up to the house) that runs into the trees and keep walking uphill for literally ½-mile where you’ll reach the gorgeous overgrown scented orchard of Tullypowrie farmhouse on the left. Keep walking along the path past the farm and, if you fancy, cross the burn (stream) anywhere hereby. The well is on the other side of the burn, somewhere…..

Archaeology & History

We ventured up here recently to look at several sites, but when we came to find this long lost well we were hindered severely by the mass of vegetation that was teeming with ticks—so thought it most sensible to come back here again at the end of winter when we’d have a clean slate of landscape to look at. (the ticks have got fucking awful in this neck o’ the woods in recent years!) It has almost fallen out of history, with no one writing about the place for more than a hundred years, yet it was a place of considerable importance in the folk traditions of Strathtay.

In some previously unpublished notes written by the historian Charles Robertson sometime at the beginning of the 20th century, he told of a lady from Pitlochry called Mrs Anderson who informed him of an important water source known locally as Sput na-fruith-chasd which,

“comes spouting out of a high rock on the east side of the Tullypowrie Burn opposite Tullypowrie farm, and was resorted to of old for the cure of whooping cough. The sufferer who came here and drank of the water always got better too.”

It was described by the Logierait schoolmaster James Kennedy (1927) as one of “the three most important (wells) in the Tay Valley”—and there are a lot of wells in the Tay Valley!

There’s a slight discrepancy regarding the exact location of the well: whilst Mr Robertson’s notes told that it was found “opposite Tullypowrie farm”, in Hugh Mitchell’s (1923) survey of local antiquities he told that,

“On the oppsite side of the burn from the mill there is a drip well, the water from which was for long regarded as a certain cure for whooping cough”—

which would place the well a hundred yards or so further upstream. (the very low-lying walls of the mill can just be discerned a short distance above the farmhouse) I’m sure that a good search of the area after Winter has laid the vegetation to rest will tell us one way or the other precisely where this curative well is hiding.

Across the burn from the well is the barely visible ruins of an old church: Roman Catholic according to tradition, with a singular short carved cross standing on the low remains of its eastern wall. Close to this, but now in the field a few hundred yards west, was the curious bullaun stone known as Clach na Buidseach, or Witchcraft Stone. This bullaun would seem to have been used in rites related to the Whooping Cough Well, but the precise nature of these rites has been lost.

References:

Dixon, John H., Pitlochry, Past and Present, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1925.
Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
Mitchell, Hugh, Pitlochry District: Its Topography, Archaeology and History, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1923.

St. Chad’s Well, Logierait, Perthshire

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Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – NN 9677 5199

Also Known as:

Fuaran Chad
St. Cedd’s Well

Archaeology & History

All trace of this once renowned holy well seems to have gone. It was located, according to the local historian James Kennedy (1927) “on the terrace behind the Church”; although Charles Stewart (1880) earlier told that it was found on the hillside above the church. On our recent visit here, the level piece of land just above the River Tay, “on the terrace behind the Church” as Kennedy told, had no notable spring of water upon it—but we didn’t check the slope above the road to see if there was anything there. By all accounts it’s long since gone.

There’s also slight confusion regarding the dedication of this well. Kennedy, once more, ascribed it to have been St Cedd’s Well, the brother of St Chad, and not Chad himself who was venerated here. But this wasn’t the view of MacKinlay (1893) or Knight (1933) in their major studies. But let’s leave that element to the hagiologists for the time being!

Tradition told that the spirit of the waters was deeply offended when the annual market in Logierait—dedicated to St Chad/Ched on his saint’s day of August 22—was stopped. As a result the waters removed themselves and fell back to Earth. This curious motif is found at a number of wells in other parts of the country.

References:

Kennedy, James, Folklore and Reminiscences of Strathtay and Grandtully, Munro Press: Perth 1927.
Knight, G.A.F., Archaeological Light on the Early Christianizing of Scotland – volume 2, James Clarke: London 1933.
MacKinlay, James M., Folklore of Scottish Lochs and Springs, William Hodge: Glasgow 1893.
MacKinlay, James M., Influence of the Pre-Reformation Church on Scottish Place-Names, William Blackwood: Edinburgh 1904.
Mitchell, Hugh, Pitlochry District: Its Topography, Archaeology and History, L. Mackay: Pitlochry 1923.
Morris, Ruth & Frank, Scottish Healing Wells, Alethea: Sandy 1982.
Stewart, Charles, The Gaelic Kingdom in Scotland, Maclachlan & Stewart: Edinburgh 1880.

St. John’s Well, Winkburn, Nottinghamshire

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Holy Well: OS Grid Reference – SK 70051 59725

Also Known as:

Holy Well

Archaeology & History

Found on the south-side of the stream a few hundred yards northeast of the aptly-named ‘Holywell Farm’ and highlighted on the early Ordnance Survey maps of the region, this once important sacred site is today, according to local folk, little more than an overgrown muddy patch, visited by very few and hard to see underfoot. It was described, albeit briefly in Leonard Jacks’ (1882) beautiful work, where he told that, “About a mile from the house is to be seen a holy well, a place of interest, which is undoubtedly connected with the past history of the place.”

In medieval times, the manor of Winkburn was the seat of the religious Order of the Knights Hospitallers, otherwise known as the Knights of St John of Jerusalem, to whom Bob Morrell (1988) professed this well to have been dedicated. He described there being a small structure around the water source, wondering whether it may have been a bath of sorts to convey water to the nearby house, but remains of this can no longer be seen. It would seem that a good ground survey of the site is required, at the end of Winter when all the vegetation has fallen back, to see if the waters can be recovered and the Holy Well brought back to life for local people. Fingers crossed! 🙂

Folklore

The water from St. John’s Well was said to be good for sore eyes. The religious celebration day of St. John is traditionally around June 24, usually overlaying earlier summer solstice celebrations.

References:

Jacks, Leonard, The Great Houses of Nottinghamshire and the County Families, W. & A.S. Bradshaw: Nottingham 1882.
Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, Allen & Stenton, F.M., The Place-Names of Nottinghamshire, Cambridge University Press 1940.
Morrell, Robert, Nottinghamshire Holy Wells and Springs, Nottingham 1988.

Acknowledgements: Huge thanks for use of the Ordnance Survey map in this site profile, reproduced with the kind permission of the National Library of Scotland.