Monthly Archives: February 2022
The wells of East Coker by Abigail Shepherd (Source New series No 3 Spring 1995)
The parish of Easter Coker, near Yeovil, in Somerset, is fortunate to have a wealth of springs and sources. In the 1920s two springs, at Burton in the north of the parish (5332 1384) and in Coker Court Park to the south (5335 1233), met the needs of the majority of homes. There are stories that during the first world war village men patrolled these springs to guard against German spies poisoning the water. A few homes, notably at Foxholes and on Lodge Hill, are still supplied by spring water.
Sadly, some of these springs and streams have been piped underground. At the hamlet of Nash the spring is called Peter’s Hole (5387 1375; can anyone help explain this name?) The stream runs from the source through the now vanished hamlet of Sheepslake and into North Coker Park, a 19th century creation, where the water emerges as an overgrown pond behind iron railings then dips back underground where it used to meet a hydraulic ram that lifted the water up into tanks in the roof of North Coker House.
Going back in time, the Roman villa site at East Coker is situated close to a spring (5472 1393) that rises to the north of Dunnock’s Lane and trickles down to the cottages at Patchlake. A footpath flows this little stream along its course to Paviotts Mill in Coker Moor. Across the moor near Davole Farm (on Private land: 5524 1211) is what appears to be a little dew pond, but may be a spring called the Beauty spring (B.A Hackwell The story of our village 1953 p6.) rising there, close to the road from Sutton Bingham, an ealden herepath or ‘old army road’ according to a 9th century charter.
In the village of East Coker itself the spring in Coker Court Park (see above) runs down from an overgrown reservoir where villagers could once collect water from a pump, and through the broken remains of a stone-edged pond that might once have supplied the oce for an ice house in a field at the other end of the track across the park. The stream then meanders round to west wells where, in the front garden of one of these cottages, there is a medieval stone washing place which can be seen from the road. The stream then runs along the roadside past the Helyar Arms pub, before doubling back and making its way across the moor.
In Coker Moor itself is ne of the most impressive wells in the parish, known as Blackwells (5497 1302), where the rusty-coloured water of this chalybeate spring bubbles to the surface to fill a small stone surrounded pond or drinking place for cattle, built by a local farmer. Blackwells water is said to be good for eyes. It can be approached from the telephone kiosk in North Coker where you go down a rough track called Moor Lane, past the sewage works until you reach a gate to a large field called Moor Field. Walk around the edge of the field in either direction and you will come to Blackwells in the far corner. The farmer allows access to this field and it is a popular place for villagers to walk.
In the far south-western corner of the parish of East Coker is the hamlet of Lyatts where a beautiful spring constantly flows out of a hedge bank (5233 1184) past a few withies and an impromptu pond, before tumbling out and under the road through Lyatts, running downhill towards Hardington in the next parish. Whilst not prepossessing to look at with its yellow plastic pipe, the boundary of the parish of East Coker cuts across to this little spring which must have been important feature in the landscape. The place-name Lyatts is believed to be all that remains of the Saxon hundred of ‘Liet/Licget’ meaning ‘lych-gate’. The spring is easily reached as it lies along a footpath, only a stone’s throw from the gate at Lyatts.
Two springs at Primrose Hill on the western edge of the parish (5292 1280) feed a little stream that runs down to Halves Lane. It is on this hillside, up above Primrose Hill Farm, that the holywell field names occur on a 1819 map of the parish. In amongst these are Bridles mead and Bridles orchard – in 1770 the former is listed as ‘Bridewells mead’. I have heard that earlier in this century there was even a spring rising in the road here. A footpath takes you across the fields, close to these sources, and follows the stream for part of the way downhill to Halves Lane. If the name Bridewells is original (and not, say, the name of the farmer who owned the field), it is interesting to note that in the Middle Ages, Bride or Bridget was a popular saint in Somerset, with a cult centring on Glastonbury; and thus he wells may have been dedicated to her. Or it might be a dim memory of the pagan goddess Briga.
At the foot of Primrose Hill, and a good place to finish this description, is the Holy well itself, which can be found in the hamlet of Holywell, on the boundary between East and West Coker (5295 1325) Here the spring rises to the north side of the Foresters Arms pub, next to the footpath leading across to Burton. Dom Ethelbert Horne visited the well while preparing his book on the holy wells of Somerset, and described it in the following words:
“The well itself is a plentiful spring, the water coming through a pipe and falling between some great stones. These are squared and dressed stones, some of them being large steps, and they may have been part of a building in former times. No tradition, that I could find, existed in the neighbourhood as to why this place is called Holywell, nor were the waters considered ‘good for eyes’. Indeed, when I asked an old lady on the spot, who had come to dip up some of the water if it was good for anything on particular she replied ‘Yes for making tea!’ She added that across the moor was a spring the water for which was ‘good for the eyes’. The directions for finding this well were so vague that I did not make the search.”
(Ethelbert Horne Somerset holy wells, London 1923, p35)
The other well mentioned to Dom Ethelbert by the old lady was the one known as Blackwells. The wells of East Coker are modest ones – both in their scale and their seclusion – but deserve the rediscovery of a visitor’s or a pilgrims’ eye
originally published in Source New Series 3 Spring 1995
A lost pagan well? Roston’s Friday Well, Derbyshire
In research for my Holy wells and healing springs of Derbyshire I came across the Friday Well at Roston. This certainly a curious possible holy well and may have been a traditional well dressing site. Oddly this is shown in Skyking-Waters Ancient wells of Gloucestershire (1927) showing it in 1887, but discontinued soon after apparently. Frith in his 1900 Highways and byways of Derbyshire usefully gives notes probably just before its demise. He notes:
“There had been a well-dressing, or well-flowering, here the day before, a charming Derbyshire custom which has been revived in many villages of recent years, when the principal wells are dressed with flowers and a simple religious service is held at their side. Here at Roston the school children had walked in procession from Norbury Church, a mile away, with the clergy at their head. Hymns were sung on the way, and again on reaching the well, where the Benediction was pronounced. “
He continues to note that:
“The Roston well — it bears the name of Friday Well— stands in a farm-yard at the back of a little Primitive Methodist Chapel, and I found the entrance decked with branches and boughs of trees, with a rustic arch adorned with cheap flags, large festoons of laburnum and lilac, and a scroll bearing the text, ” O ye wells, Bless ye the LORD, Praise Him and magnify Him for ever.” Over the well itself an elaborate structure had been raised, which had evidently kept the good women of Roston very busy for the previous day or two.”
The author continues to give a very detailed description of how the well-dressing was done:
“A large wooden frame had been made, rounded at the top and divided into separate partitions. In the centre was a representation of Battle Abbey, with the outline of the building picked out in haricot beans. A Union Jack waved above it— the red being supplied by geranium petals, the blue by cornflowers, arid the white by rice. The background was of moss and other green stuff. Devices were formed out of Indian corn, linseed and small fir cones ; daisies in intersecting rings and as borders were a feature of the decoration, and bright colours were obtained from different flower petals. ” Peace unto All ” was the legend at the top of the frame, and at the foot *’ GOD save the King,” while a dove of haricot beans spread benign and sheltering wings over all. The whole was a most creditable display of ingenuity and good taste. The frames are coated over with wet clay into which salt has been kneaded in order to keep it moist and adhesive, and the flowers and other ornaments are then stuck on one by one.”
Such effort and celebration suggested that this would be a significant well to discover whether it still existed and I did wonder whether the lost of the custom was caused by the loss the well.
Origin of the name
Friday Well is an interestingly named site which may owe its name to a Pagan origin linked to the goddess who gave us Friday so to speak. There are a few other such Friday sites but they are not as common as those derived from Thur or Grimr derivations for example. The site may be named after the Norse goddess Freya being derived from Frīgedæg and indeed the place was present at the Domesday book suggesting an older origin in line with Norse settlement perhaps. Was the settlement a localised site of a Freya cult? Skyking-Waters gives a suggestion that the name is from St. Frideswide instead. Alternatively it could be due to Christian observation on Good Friday especially being that it is associated with a Methodist chapel. Was the well dressed on Good Friday. Sadly, I can find no further details or clues.
Finding the well
Roston is indeed a small hamlet and very little appears to have changed over the intervening years. I enquired at the house which was the Primitive Methodist and was greeted with a welcome and an offer to see the site. The well’s fabric indeed still exists but was now dry. I was told that its water emptied into a large stone trough who the owner thought was possibly a tomb suggesting again perhaps an ancient significance was it associated with a local saint from a lost church? Sadly, the water ceased running, as the farm above the well has tapped it.
Re-discovering Radcliffe-on-Trent’s Holy Well
In the book Holy wells and healing springs of Nottinghamshire I detail the existence of a holy well in the riverside village of Ratcliffe on Trent just south of Nottingham. Details regarding the Holy Well of Radcliffe-on-Trent are scant. So far research seems to suggest it is a site which only appears post-1800s and whether this is due to poor recording or some developing Victorian antiquarian fancy is unclear. The first reference is 1801 as a Holy Well Close in the vicinity of the present Park Road. The next mention was in about 1844 when a Jonas Bettison sold just 35 acres in Cliff Hill Close and Holywell Close to Earl Manvers for £4500.
However, there are no traditions associated with the site. More recently according to Mr. Priestland, the name Holy Well has been associated with a site on the pathway down from the Cliff Walk to the level of the River Trent with its upper end opposite the northern entrance to the Rockley Memorial Park. He notes that the site has been described as Halliwell, Hallow Well and Hollow Well suggesting its name derives from O.E hol.
When I researched for the book I went along the path and discovered a spring, half way down the steep pathway, which formed a pool of water which is circled by large stones and went down to form a small stream which was dammed to form a further pool a few metres below the first although. This I assumed was the holy well and I published it as such.
However, correspondence from fellow holy well enthusiast Jane Fulford suggests I was close but not actually there and that the holy well was close by in what I could describe as the most precarious of locations on the very steep slope opposite.
Rather cautiously I went to look for it. It was not easy although I had been given excellent instructions I could not work out whether it was better to go down to it or go up to it. I managed to locate from the bottom and thought I’d work upwards to it. The slope was slippery with very few footholds or grip points. I nearly managed it before slipping back into the boggy water below. Taking the downwards approach looked preferable.
Once I had located I found myself some safe footing and examined it. At first what was apparent was that it was still flowing and with some considerable flow. The present well house is constructed of what appears to be Georgian brickwork with a cement render, much of which was missing. The structure like a dog kennel in structure a few feet high, I needed to crouch down to examine it. Once inside it, one could see the curved brick barrel like roof and it was apparent that the flow had petrifying qualities. as the overflow was considerably encrusted. The structure was unfortunately heavily overgrown with a large ivy making considerable impact on the infrastructure, so much that I fear that it may not survive for much longer.
The well certainly more authentically like a holy well than the site I first thought was it; although they may well indeed feed off the same spring. The only extra piece of information that Jane Fulford informed me was that the water was used by those using the waterways although we both agreed that its positions suggestions that was very improbable. Be very interested to find out more.
holyandhealingwells 