There are a number of locations. In this blog post extracted and revised from my book Holy Wells and Healing Spring of Nottinghamshire I explore where the well(s) of Southwell can be found.

There’s a monument it was easy to find!

The supposed South Well (SK 708 535) is commemorated by a brick monument called Paulinus Stone which has a plaque attached to it, recording the following:

“It is reputed that in the 7th century the water was used to baptise the first Christians in this part of Nottinghamshire and from that time on for several centuries the spring was considered to be a holy well the water of which was said to have healing qualities”

The monument is above a small wooded area where there appears to be the dried up remains of a spring head, but this may not be the site referred to in the town’s name. I have been unable to find any supporting evidence for this claim and it seems unlikely that this remote location would be the site for the first settlement being a fair distance from the Minster.

Where else could it be?

Another nearer site was to be found in the Admiral Rodney public house, in King Street (SK 701 540) this being found in the corner of the bar but a recent visit did not find it. However, although close to the historic centre of the bar it seems unlikely to be the exact site.

The two other sites where in the Minster precincts. The Holy well (SK 701 538) found in the cloister leading to the Chapter House and probably used for liturgical purposes and the Lady well (SK 703 537) was found in the churchyard, immediately under the walls of the Choir on the north side of the Chapter House. William Wylie’s 1853 Old and New Nottingham notes that this later well was:

“merely a mock sunk to receive the overflowing of the spouts and the drainage from the church and that it was no great compliment to the holy patroness”.

Thus it was unlikely to be the third well. It is said to be marked by a stone with a W on it but I was unable to find it. It is interesting to note that there was a Roman villa south east of the Minster. Work in 1959 showed a large cold bath. Did the Holy well provide water for this bath? Both were filled in, the later being covered by a vestry built in 1915. It was filled in, in the 1764 where a clergyman called Fowler drowned in it.

Has the titular well been found?

However, I feel that the most obvious example was the Lord’s Well (SK 705 537) and this supported by Robert Shilton (1818) The History of Southwell in the county of Nottinghamshire who notes:

“The received opinion is, that the place took its name from a well on the south side of the town of some note formerly as effectual in the cure of rheumatism and there was once a stone recess for the convenience for bathers, this was called the Lord’s Well, probably from its spring rising in the demesne of the Lord of the Manor…”

According to Dickinson in his 1787 work on the History of Southwell, an attempt was made to develop it into a spa, but by 1801 it was noted that it was only used by boys for amusement. Accordingly, this still survives in some form in the private gardens of the Residence. However, according to the present Dean there appears to be no spring or well arising there but a more likely site is to be found in the Archbishop’s Palace. Here can be found a site which would fit Shilton’s description. It is a rectangular structure made of squared stone, five foot by three foot approximately, which could easily have been used a bath. It looks of some age but may be modern. A spring appears to fill it, and this arises at the edge of the lawn and flows from a carved head (probably modern in date). The structure is located a few feet from the ruins of the Archbishop’s Palace, so it would seem likely that this is the site and it is surprising it has been missed over the years. The site is at SK 701 537 but again a recent visit did find it still there but filled in and dry. If it is the titular spring it is deplorable treated!