Monthly Archives: July 2018
Rediscovered/Restored: Another St. Anne’s Well near Buxton. Was there a Roman water shrine at Brough, Derbyshire?
Whilst researching for the book Holy Wells and Healings Springs of Derbyshire, I came across a reference to a holy well which appears to have been ignored. Much had been written of Bradwell’s well customs and even consideration made for its thermal spring, but this was unrecorded by authors over the years only being noted on the first series OS map. I was eager to see it if it survived and doubted it had considering I had heard nothing of it.
Overlaying the old map for the new OS map I pinpointed the location and went exploring. Taking a few steps off the main road I was pleased to see there was a well approximately where the well was marked on the older map. Also unlike other such forays this was not some boggy weed filled morass but a substantial structure and over the overflowing trough was carved into a stone the name – St. Anne’s Well. However this was a forgotten or at least unknown St Ann Well for it appears to have been completely missed from previous surveys including the most recent Jeremy Harte (2008) of English Holy Wells. However, a stone erected over the well clearly reads: Town Well or St. Anne’s Well. 1859. What was more interesting, furthermore, across the road from the well was a noted Roman settlement, Navio was there a connection?
A forgotten holy well?
The well is quite a substantial structure consisting of two separate chambers. The spring fills at first a five foot, two foot rectangular stone trough enclosed in a small walled enclosure, which presumably was constructed for people. The overflow from this fills the trough beside the wall enclosure and beneath the large stone where the well’s name is carved. The arrangement is not an uncommon one to prevent contaminating domestic and animal supply.
How old is the dedication?
Bar the inscription, there appears to be very little concrete evidence. The most official being its notation as noted in copperplate writing on the first series of the O/S map. This suggests that the site was an antiquity when the map was drawn, however the Victorian love of antiquarianism as a form of vindication it is dubious. Possibly more convincing is are the names of the houses around, both are 1700s in date and are named after the well.
The support for an ancient well.
Yet despite the lack of any concrete written evidence it is possible that this site is a very ancient one associated with the Navio settlement. Let us look at the support for that argument. Firstly, its position. The spring arises on Batham Gate the Roman road to Buxton and a few yards from the Roman settlement. It would indeed seem odd that the Romans did not know it flowing as it does so close.
Significantly perhaps, in Navio an altar was found dedicated to goddess Arnomectis who has been seen as an adopted Celtic Water deity however authorities believe this is related to the river Noe, but why not the spring? The inscription reading:
DEAE ARNOMECTE AEL MOTIO V S L L M
“To the goddess Arnomecte Aelius, willingly, gladly and deservedly fulfils his vow”
It is also probable that it is the same deity, Arnemetia, which was celebrated at Buxton, so perhaps this is a memorial from there but that it does not preclude the deity being celebrated here.
It is worth noting that on the outskirts, Brough does have another noted well which has been considered a thermal spring utilised by the Romans as a bath. It survives as a campsite pond, called Bath Spring, it is more likely that the bath was that constructed in 1830 by a Robert Middleton of Smalldale.
The evidence against
The main evidence against the theory is the lack of note of this. However evidence of absence is not absence of evidence. It may be also questioned why the well was not enclosed within the Navio enclosure. It may be that it formed a separate temple precinct and so would be kept separate. Of course there is always the possibility that some local antiquarian, decide to re-dedicate it. If they did why then not publicise it? Victorian works are full of these sorts of self-supporting arguments on antiquity so why does no one mention it? It is surprisingly absent from the main work on Bradwell – ancient and modern by Seth Evans (1912). This is surprising because the author took care to include notes on the well traditions of the community. Although he does relate that the settlement may take its name from a well at the Roman settlement. Interestingly, it is worth noting that Nottingham’s lost Saint Anne’s Well may have been called Broadwell (Bradwell?) may have been associated with the well, but it would be strangely coincidental even more so considering the well is dedicated to St. Anne (as is Buxton), this view is supported by Clarke and Roberts (1996) but they are unaware of the well!
Yet here it is a great discovery – a St Anne’s Well a few miles from the famous Buxton one – but all but unknown!
Down from the Piskies – Pelynt’s Nun’s Well, Cornwall
When I first became enchanted with holy wells in the 1980s it was the old engraving of this well which enchanted me the most but it took a few years to get to see it. The mysterious building overshadowed with by a venerable tree. Charles Hope in his 1893 Legendary lore of holy wells put it succinctly:
“Its position was, until very lately, to be discovered by the oak and bramble which grew upon its roof. It is entered by a doorway with a stone lintel, and overshadowed by an oak. The front of the well is of a pointed form, and has a rude entrance about 4 feet high, and is spanned above by a single flat stone, which leads into a grotto, with an arched roof The walls on the interior are draped with the luxuriant fronds of spleen-wort) hart’s tongue, and a rich undercovering of liverwort. “
A pin well
Hope (1893) states that:
“In the basin of the well may be found a great number of pins, thrown in by those who have visited it out of curiosity, or to avail themselves of the virtues of its waters. A writer, anxious to know what meaning the peasantry attach to this strange custom, on asking a man at work near the spot, was told that it was done “to get the goodwill of the Piskies,” who after the tribute of a pin not only ceased to mislead them, but rendered fortunate the operations of husbandry.”
When I last visited in the 1990s I could see no pins but the chamber was full of tea candles suggesting regular visitation. The most noticeable feature is its delightfully intricate basin, possibly the most ornate in situ for any British holy well, so much one wonders where it came from. QuillerCouch notes:
“At the farther end of the floor is a round granite basin with a deeply moulded brim, ornamented lower and all round its circumference with a series of rings, each enclosing a Greek cross or ball. The water must be supplied from an opening at the back; for none runs into it from the rim, and yet it is always full. If emptied, it soon fills again.”
It may have been from a chapel nearby:
“The well, and a small chapel above it, the remains of which are some indistinct mounds, and a vallum, artificially made, on the north and south sides (occasionally the plough turns some shaped stones and roofing slates), were dedicated to St. Nonnet, or St. Nun, a holy woman said to be the mother of St. David, and the daughter of a Cornish chief. She is also said to have lived and died at Altarnun.”
A warning to the sacrilegious
Perhaps the most fascinating legend associated with the well is about its rather ornate basin. Hope (1893) states that:
“An old farmer (so runs the legend) once set his eyes upon the granite basin and coveted it, for it was no wrong in his eyes to convert the holy font to the base uses of a Pigsty and accordingly he drove his oxen and wain to the gateway above for the purpose of removing it. Taking his beasts to the entrance of the well, he essayed to drag the trough from its ancient bed. For a long time it resisted the efforts of the oxen, but at length they succeeded in starting it, and dragged it slowly up the hillside to where the wain was standing. Here, however, it burst away from the chains which held it, and, rolling back again to the well, made a sharp turn and regained its old positions, where it has remained ever since. Nor will anyone again attempt its removal, seeing that the farmer, who was previously well-to-do in the world, never prospered from that day forward. Some people say, indeed, that retribution overtook him on the spot, the oxen falling dead, and the owner being struck lame and speechless.”
Hope continues to paint a picture which continues to inflict our holy wells:
“Though the superstitious hinds had spared the well, time and storms of winter had been slowly ruining it. The oak which grew upon its roof had, by its roots, dislodged several stones of the arch, and, swaying about in the wind, had shaken down a large mass of masonry in the interior, and the greater part of the front. On its ruinous condition being made known to the Trelawny family (on whose property it is situated), they ordered the restoration, and the walls were replaced after the original plan.”
And as such it was restored.
St Nonna’s or Piskie?
Hope (1893) notes that:
“The people of the neighbourhood knew the well by the names St. Ninnie’s, St. Nun’s, and Piskies’ Well. It is probable that the latter is, after all, the older name, and that the guardianship of the spring was usurped at a later period by the saint whose name it occasionally bears. The water was doubtless used for sacramental purposes; yet its mystic properties, if they were ever supposed to be dispensed by the saint, have been again transferred, in the popular belief, to the Piskies.”
Now Piskies are the Cornish version of Pixies and interestingly I noticed the high concentration of midges- were they the Piskies I wonder? Quiller Couch continues:
“Dr. O’Connor tells us that in some parts of Ireland there is a belief that by some of their ceremonies at the patterns, or pilgrimages to wells, the daoini maethe {i.e., fairies) were propitiated. In the basin of St. Nun’s may be found a great number of pins, thrown in by those who avail themselves of the curative qualities of its water, or consult it for intimations of the future. I was curious to know what meaning the. unlettered peasantry attached to this strange but common custom ; and on asking an old man at work near, was told that it was done to get the good-will of the piskies,’ who after the tribute of a pin ceased to mislead them, gave them good health, and made fortunate the operations of husbandry.— T. Q. C.”
Quiller-Couch’s and my visits 100 years apart
“This well when visited in July, 1891, was in a very fair state of preservation, though not now used for any particular purpose. A thorn and a nut tree overshadow it, and ivy creeps from between the masonry. Ferns and mosses grow luxuriantly in the interior, where the trough still stands into which were cast pins in former days ; but the surrounding ground was in such a marshy state to make it impossible to approach near enough to examine any carving which may be on it. A woman, on directing us to the spot, smilingly spoke of having visited the well for the purpose of divination in her younger days ; an old man, who stood by, remarked that no one he had ever heard of knew when or why the well was built there, — but that was very possible, — he had heard that people had attempted to move it, with no success.”
My visit in July 1991 found it an enchanting place, obviously the scale shocked me at first as I expected it to be bigger based on the sketch in Hope. The tree which had been overshadowing it was gone and that lost some of the atmosphere. But it still was an enchanting place, especially creeping inside where that old basin remained and there was a feeling of being with the piskies..
Thanks for Carol Ellis for the 2017 photos!
In search of Queen Anne’s Well, Chalvey, Slough
“A small stream known as Chalvey Brook intersects them, whose water, considered beneficial to the eyes, has its source in Queen Anne’s well, situated in a pretty grove of trees near the village of Chalvey, whence Queen Anne and afterwards Queen Charlotte had the water carried up to Windsor Castle in buckets.”
Handbook for travellers
Now swallowed up by Slough, Chalvey once boasted a curious well said have had royal patronage as noted above. Indeed, Queen Anne is said to have had it dug although whether that meant there was no structure before this is unclear. The Mirror of 1832 recorded that:
“a stone was placed there in 1785 by her illustrious consort, George III”.
The accompanying drawing shows a stone with water emerging from a spout with a royal monograph centrally carved.
Healing waters
As noted the water was thought beneficial for eyes but it may have had other potential, Maxwell in his 1973 History of Slough noted:
“It appears that an attempt was made to capitalise on the patronage and as such as Wyld’s 1839 Great Western Railway Guide notes a Dr. Heberden liked the water’s properties to that of the better-known Malvern and indeed the name Chalvey Spa was still current in 1925, as noted in a letter to the Slough Observer when a Richard Bentley recorded small quantities of lithia in the water.”
However, this venture does not appear to have been successful and the spring fell into obscurity
Ancient origins?
Local historian Michael Bayley according to Alan Cleaver and Lesley Park on his excellent Strange Britain website (who did much work to locate the exact site) makes an interesting observation linked to the strange mound not far from the well. This mound, called the Montem, rather incongruously remains beside the Leisure Centre. The mound was associated with Eton school who would have an annual ceremony at it. Bayley observes:
“The spring is near an artificial mound, Montem, and was by a river crossing; in this case, of an old branch of the Thames dammed off in the 13th century. Up and down the middle and lower Thames these three things in association – a hill or hillock, a holy well and a ford – are usually connected with the name Anne, either Saint or Queen.”
He then believes that the site was originally dedicated to a pagan goddess, Sanct Anner, the Holy one of the Heifer. However, this is a difficult assumption to make considering firstly that Queen Anne did have a historical association with the well, there is no record before this and that the transfer between a pagan Anna and St. Anne is unlikely as the cult of St Anne did not establish itself until the mid-Medieval period long after any pagan memory I would suggest.
More significant is the fact that Cleaver and Park note:
“Curiously one resident recalls a stone bearing this inscription: “The two monkeys, Romeo and Juliet”. Could this have any connection with the local Stab Monk tradition?”
The Stab Monkey tradition was a Whitsun custom unique to this town and may more likely have an ancient origin of course it may have been used as a village insignia!
Lost, found and lost?
Robert Tighe and James Davis (1858) Annals of Windsor state:
“The well, and the original stone trough and spout may yet be traced among a pretty grove of trees and copse wood, but the path which led to it from the village of Chalvey has been stopped up”.
Indeed, Historian Michael Bayley reported in 1970 that this headstone
“went to make a horse trough and the rest was broken up to form a lily pond in the 1920s to discourage the villagers from using the well and the right of way past it.”
Cleaver and Park again note:
“Today’s villagers recall how rubble has been tipped on the well with the building of the school nearby.”
However, the exact site is disputed, Maxwell (1973) wisely states:
“The question of the exact site of Queen Anne’s well gives an admirable example of the danger of relying too unquestioningly on local ‘tradition’ and old people’s ‘recollections’. Quite frequently these turn out to be perfectly correct, or to have a basis of fact which can lead to further discoveries, but there are also times when they are misleading, to say the least. Wherever possible, they should be checked from other sources.”
Maxwell (1973) notes that:
“Some natives of Chalvey in this century have said the well was in the garden of Brookside, which was later dug out to make a lily pond. This lily-pond is now hidden under the pile of rubble removed when the swimming pool was constructed at the back of Sinkins House, Tuns Lane. The site is east of Tuns Lane and north of Church Street, Chalvey.”
In A History Of The Parish Of Upton Cum Chalvey, Richard V.H. Burne in 1913 was keen to investigate and he states:
“I was informed by two local inhabitants that ‘Queen Annie’s Spring’ used to be on the north side of Cippenham Lane…. it is even marked in this position on a Tithe Map of Farnham Parish made circa 1846.”
Maxwell (1973) again notes of this site:
“The watercress beds, now neighboured by the High Voltage Switching Station with its pylons, are overgrown with weeds and partly choked with rubbish. It is to be hoped that the site will be cleared, and recognised as the historic spot it is.”
Sadly despite recording the site for posterity no attempt has been made to officially recognise it. When Cleaver and Park investigated they found some stone work remaining with a small arch. The authors provide a very useful map which I used to locate the spring one summer morning.
Possible site of the spring?
However, my investigations have failed to reveal anything substantial. I looked a spring of water but it was much overgrown and no stonework could be found. Hopefully this blog post will raise its profile again and this important heritage site of Slough can be restored and remembered.
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