Category Archives: wells

Well Being

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My visit to Farewell several weeks ago got me interested in finding out more about wells. Brownhills Bob showed me a map of the area around Farewell and it’s amazing to see how many other ‘well’ related placenames there are in that area alone e.g. Stoneywell, Cresswell, Coldwell, Nuns Well and my own personal favourite, Giddywell (wonder what was in the water there?!).

I’ll come back to these another time but for now I thought it would be interesting to find out a bit about what’s probably the most well known well in our area – St Chad’s Well here in Lichfield.

The well has changed a fair bit over the years. The earliest description of the well is said to come from Leland who visited in the 1500s and is quoted in a Lichfield history book published in 1819 as saying “…Stowe church on the east of the towne where is St Chad’s well a spring of pure water where is seen a stone in the bottom of it on which some say St Chad was wont naked to stand in the water and pray at this stone…”.

Today, St Chad’s Well looks like this.

 

 

 

Below is a picture of the well and church drawn by William Stukeley in 1736. As far as I know, it’s the oldest image of the well that there is.

However, James Rawson reported that by 1833 the well had ‘degenerated into a most undignified puddle, more than 6 feet deep’. He seems to dispute Stukeley’s drawing, saying that there was no outlet for escape of water and the brook was not near to the well as depicted above. The well basin had become ‘filled up with mud and filth’ which Rawson believed was due to drainage in the surrounding meadows. As a result an octagonal building was erected over the well, which remained in place until 1947, when I understand that the well was actually moved to its present position and took on its current form. It would be interesting to see if there are any first hand accounts of this?

St Chad's Well, 1915. Image from Wikipedia

 
At some point it seems people may have thought the water in the well was harmful to drink. In a volume of ‘The Antiquary’, published in 1889 a Rev C F R Palmer is quoted as saying “It is popularly believed that it is dangerous to drink of the water of St. Chad’s Well, as it is sure to give a fit of the ” shakes,” Yet, in spite of the attendant’s remonstrances, I took a good draught, and, instead of ague, experienced only great refreshment in a fatiguing walk on a sultry day”. Like Rev Palmer, the lad in the photo looks like he’s about to take a good draught and doesn’t seem too concerned!

In 1806, Thomas Harwood wrote that ” The superstitious custom of adorning this well with boughs and of reading the gospel for the day at this and at other wells and pumps is yet observed in this city on Ascension Day”.  According to St Chad’s church website, the tradition of well dressing (mostly associated with our neighbours over in Derbyshire) was revived in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Christian Aid. I think the last well dressing was in 2010 with a girl guide theme. I wonder if the custom will be revived again?

I had always assumed that the well and the spring were one and the same, but it seems that it was separate, or at least it became separate at some point. I don’t feel too bad about my ignorance though, as in 1923, the churchwarden Thomas Moseley said ‘no living person knew where the water came from’. In a book published in 1846, I’ve read that ‘The water of the well is sulphurated and near to it is a pretty iron pump giving water from a second well which is a superfine chalybeate’ and in an archaeological survey from 2006, it refers to a little brick building containing the spring. The survey was carried out as there was a proposal to build a visitors centre in the well’s vicinity. I understand that plans for the centre were abandoned in February 2008 but the survey makes for an interesting read and you can find it here.

Though plans for a visitors centre didn’t come to fruition, there is another project that will bring people to the well. On 1st April,  at 2.30pm the Bishop of Lichfield will be opening the first interpretation panel on the Two Saints Way, a pilgrimage route linking Lichfield Cathedral and St Chad’s Well with the shrine of St Werburgh at Chester Cathedral. I hope this is a success and I wish David Potts and all those involved……well!

Sources:

Some account of Croyland Abbey, read by JM Gresley by William Stukeley

A Short Account of ther City and Close of Lichfield by Thomas George Lomax, John Chappel Woodhouse and William Newling

The Gentleman’s magazine, Volume 217

www.saintchads.org.uk/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/parishprofile2011.pdf

www.stchads.org.uk

 The Wanderings of a Pen & Pencil by F P Palmer (1846)

The Antiquary Vol 22

http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-841-1/dissemination/pdf/oxfordar1-50626_1.pdf

 

 

Bricks & Water

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With traces of snow on the ground, but the sun shining, I headed back to Farewell last weekend.  Following my previous visit, I’d had a look at some old maps and another extremely helpful conversation with BrownhillsBob on the subject of wells. I was hopeful that this time I’d be able to find the site of the well, that gave the place its name.

This description of the well is from ‘A Tale of Fairwell’, set at the priory in 1527 and published in the early 1800s  – ‘Exactly in the centre, the sparkling tide of a large well or rather fountain leapt from a carved stone basin and hurrying hither and thither amidst rich grass floated under an arch in the wall into the pool that supplied the mill.’ Whether there is any element of truth in this description or whether it’s completely imagined, I don’t know!

All I could find is this hollow, which is marked on maps ranging from 1884 to the late 1960s, as a pond. The maps also show a well or spring to the north east marked as ‘Well’ or ‘Fare Well’.

 Just down from this old pond, is a small brook in which there are some big chunks of stone. This brings me onto the next question! What remains of the priory of St Mary, initially founded as a hermitage but shortly afterwards converted into a nunnery?

The priory was dissolved in 1527. It seems that the old nunnery chapel was retained as a church but most of it was rebuilt in 1747 in brick,  leaving only the stone chancel.

The two different parts of the church.

Pat suggested that a nearby wall might contain some of the stone from the earlier building(s).

A brick wall has been built around the church yard, and this too seems to incorporate some older stone?

A archaeological resistivity survey carried out in 1992 located areas of higher resistivity thought to relate to demolition debris from structures associated with the church. Staffordshire Record Office hold the results of the survey which ‘revealed significant archaeological remains relating to the priory, including walls of buildings and the remains of the precinct wall’. I wonder whereabouts?

Until I can get my grubby mitts on a copy of this or any other real evidence, I’ll just have to be content that Farewell is a lovely place to speculate about!

Farewell Tour

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From doing a bit of research on Cross in Hand Lane, I knew Farewell had been the site of Benedictine nunnery and also that the placename (sometimes spelt as ‘Fairwell’) refers to a nearby ‘fair or clear spring’. I had no idea what was left of either, the nunnery or the spring, so on the way home from Castle Ring, we stopped off for a look around.

St Bartholomew, Farewell

The most striking thing about the church is the mixture of  the two different building styles and materials. It seems the original church (which you can see here on the Staffordshire Past Track website) is thought to have contained parts of the nunnery which was dissoved in 1527.  Most of the old building was demolished & rebuilt in brick in 1745. However, the stone chancel remains. Below are a couple of photos  showing the contrast between the chancel and the rebuilt part of the church . I’m not sure but the bottom right corner of the older, stone built part of the building looks different again?

The two different parts of the church.

Have a look from a slightly different angle.

Whilst these renovations were being carried out, workman made a discovery. According to Richard Greene, in the south wall, six feet off the ground were three rows of earthen vessels. Each row contained vessels  of a different size (the smallest was 6 1/4 inches high) lying on their side, openings covered by a thin coat of plaster, facing towards to interior of the church.  All but three were broken in the process and one of them was kept at Richard Greene’s museum. You can see the picture here on the Staffs Pastrack website plus the letter written by Richard Greene to The Gentleman’s Magazine outlining the finds.

Initially, I found a couple of reference to the discovery of the Farewell Jars but no explanations or suggestions to why they were there.  Eventually, after a bit of searching, I came across a book on Church Lore (1), with a whole chapter devoted to ‘Acoustic Jars and Horses’ Skulls’ which specifically mentions the jars found at ‘Fairwell, Staffordshire’, describing how jars were used for enhancing the acoustics of a building. The idea is thought to date back to a Roman architect called Vitruvius. There are other examples of this idea throughout the country, and Europe, including St Andrews, Lyddington as below.

Acoustic jar in chancel wall, parish church of St. Andrews, Lyddington, Rutland 05/04/2009. Credit: Walwyn (taken from their Flickr photstream)

If you’re anything like me, you’ll be wondering what the ‘Horses’ Skulls’ element of the Church Lore chapter title was about. Apparently, animal skulls were also used to improve acoustics in a building and examples have been found in various places. Although this is fascinating, I’m not going to go into too much detail here as it isn’t directly related to Farewell. However, it is worth noting that there is some debate as to whether these skulls and to a lesser extent, the jars relate to something altogether different. Something along the lines of foundation sacrifices…

I’d love to know what others think about this and want to look more into this acoustic jar business. I’m also wondering where the rest of the nunnery, dedicated to St Mary, is ? I’m not saying farewell to Farewell, just yet….

Sources:
(1) Thomas Firminger Dyer Church Lore Gleanings, Chapter VII,

(2) Ralph Merryfield Folk-lore in London Archaeology Part 2, The Post Roman Period

Staffordshire Places website http://www.places.staffspasttrack.org.uk/

William Dugdale Monasticon Angelicanum