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.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian