Summary of Wells | Berkshire
THERE was a holy well or spring in the village of Holwell, on the borders of Bedford and Hertfordshire; unfortunately both history and site have been forgotten by the villagers at Holywell.--A. C. G. Cameron, H.M. Geological Survey.
At Hail Weston, on the borders of the counties of Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, about two miles north-west of St. Neots, there are some mineral springs, formerly looked on as holy wells. They are situated on the alluvium of a small stream, but may have their origin in the underlying Oxford clay. Michael Drayton describes them as "the Holy Wells of Hail Weston."--Ibid.
At Turvey, Six miles from Bedford, there is a mineral well, known as St. Mary's Well.--Ibid.
The other day, in passing through Pertenhall, I noticed the Chadwell
Spring, at Chadwell End, to be a big one. At one [2] time it was proposed to have a drain to carry the
water to Kimbolton, a distance of seven miles. Within the last few years
much water from this spring has been bottled, and used for sore eyes. The
parish church is dedicated to St. Peter, and formerly Pertenhall was
Saint Peter's Hall, and there were seven churches altogether in the parish
once on a time, so my informant, an old inhabitant I chanced upon,
asserted.
--Ibid., March 14, 1891.
In Batchelor's Agricultural Survey of Bedfordshire, 1813,
referring to this well, after describing mineral springs at Bromham,
Turvey, and Clapham, it says: Several others, as at Holcot and Cranfield,
sometimes used for sore eyes, being impregnated with iron, holy well
implying that at one time it was held in high estimation.
The spring is
probably the one at Hartwell Farm, near Cranfield Rectory.--Ibid.
There is a spring or well that rises in the churchyard on the north bank of the river Ouse, which there separates Cambridgeshire from Huntingdonshire. This well was at one time much frequented by religious devotees. The Rev. S. M. Beckwith, a former rector of the parish, had the well arched over (Kelly's Hunts Directory, 1885, P. 205).--Ibid.
There is a well or spring at Stevington-on-Ouse, seven miles up the valley from Bedford. On the ordnance six-inch map it is engraved "Holy Well," in Old English lettering, a plan adopted by them for distinguishing ancient buildings or relics from modern institutions. Stevington holy well is arched over, and built into the churchyard wall of St. Mary's Church, and abuts upon the modern alluvium of the Ouse, which there forms a considerable flat. The church stands on rising ground, formed of alternating beds of limestone and clay, which holds up the water percolating the limestone-hence, probably, the spring. The water was clear, sparkling, and tasteless, although I was prepared to find it a mineral water of some kind. At one time people visited this holy well in considerable numbers, but, like many others, it appears now to have lost its popularity.--Ibid.