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Ancestral Geographies of the Neolithic, Edmonds, Bender

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<< Our Photo Pages >> St Michael's Well (Well) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Yorkshire (North)

Submitted by jamesrattue on Tuesday, 21 October 2008  Page Views: 6425

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Michael's Well (Well) Alternative Name: Mickey Well, Mickel Well
Country: England
NOTE: This site is 0.302 km away from the location you searched for.

County: Yorkshire (North) Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Masham  Nearest Village: Well
Map Ref: SE26338175
Latitude: 54.230788N  Longitude: 1.597592W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
5

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Anne T visited on 31st May 2021 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 5 St Michael's Well, Well: Our third stop of the day, driving west out of Well village, up a shady, pretty single track road with trees on either side. With little/no traffic on this road, we pulled into the passing place/small layby immediately opposite the well. At first, I didn't think anything was here, but behind the stone wall and wooden fence to the northern side of the road, there was the very distinct sound of running water. Behind the small stone wall are some steps which lead down to the well itself, through which copious amounts of very clear water are running. This water then leads into a small stream which runs into Well Beck. We didn't realise until later that the actual source of the water was from the southern side of the road, which also has a stone wall structure, fronted by what is now a muddy patch (once the well pool?). The water looks as if it originally emerged from by a large tree now growing in the wall. This area of ground has been heavily churned by cattle and the small gap/stile in the wall at this point has been wired off. A very lovely spot, well worth the visit.

St Michael's Well (Well)
St Michael's Well (Well) submitted by jamesrattue : St Michael's Well, Well, North Yorkshire, photographed October 2008. (Vote or comment on this photo)
Right beside the road leading into Well from the west, on the north side and flowing from the wall alongside the road, reached through a gap in the wall. The beautiful clear water flows into the stream that gives Well its name, and the small stone well-house is in good condition though a bit overgrown.

Apart from the name of the village - 'Welle' in Domesday Book - the first reference to the well comes in Baines's 'History of Yorkshire' (1827), where he mentions this never-failing spring. Not far away was a Roman bath-house and the church, also dedicated to St Michael, is unusually impressive for such a modest village, with a grand Norman tower.

Edna Whelan and Ian Taylor (in 'Yorkshire Holy Wells & Sacred Springs', 1989) refer to a local legend of a dragon killed by a member of the Latimer family - and of course St Michael is a dragon-slaying saint. The well used to be dressed on occasion. In 1895 it was called Mickey or Mickel Well and had a metal cup attached for drinking the water. Whelan's reference (in 'History and Topography of the City of York and the North Riding of Yorkshire', 1859) to a well of St Michael in Masham presumably means this one.

This well is also featured on The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) - see their entry for St. Michael’s Well, Well, North Yorkshire, which gives directions for finding this well, together with a drawing of the well from 1895, a description and local folklore. For more information also see Pastscape Monument No. 52238.
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St Michael's Well (Well)
St Michael's Well (Well) submitted by Anne T : The stone steps at the western side of the well enclosure, leading down to the actual flow of water, about a metre below the current road surface. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Michael's Well (Well)
St Michael's Well (Well) submitted by Anne T : The clear water flowing through the well basin into Well Beck to the north. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Michael's Well (Well)
St Michael's Well (Well) submitted by Anne T : St Michael's Well is tucked below the small dry stone wall and fencing structure. It is only by leaning over the wall, or going down the few stone steps at the western side of this enclosure that the abundant, clear water can be seen still flowing through the well channel/basin into Well Beck to the north. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Michael's Well (Well)
St Michael's Well (Well) submitted by Anne T : A closer look at what must have been the original exit for the water for St Michael's Well, into a pool which was/is now piped under the road. This area is now cordoned off and heavily churned up by cattle. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Michael's Well (Well)
St Michael's Well (Well) submitted by Anne T : On the opposite side of the road from where the water is now piped to, and emerges from a stone structure, is where the water originally looked to have emerged from. This area of ground has at some point been very muddy and heavily churned up by cattle. The small gap in the wall allowing access into this area was wired off to prevent visitors. (Vote or comment on this photo)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 582m ENE 59° St Michael's Church (Well)* Ancient Cross (SE2682982053)
 2.4km SE 135° Thornborough N* Henge (SE28058005)
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 3.2km SE 137° Thornborough Central* Henge (SE28517945)
 3.2km SE 145° Thornborough Cursus Cursus (SE282791)
 3.3km SE 130° Thornborough Cursus Cursus (SE289796)
 3.8km WSW 254° St Mary (Masham)* Ancient Cross (SE2266080651)
 3.9km SE 139° Thornborough S* Henge (SE28947884)
 4.6km S 185° Ings Well (Mickley)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SE2593377125)
 4.7km NW 319° St Mary (Thornton Watlass)* Ancient Cross (SE2324585265)
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 6.5km W 266° Fearby Cross (Masham) Ancient Cross (SE1984081273)
 6.6km SW 229° Himalayan Gardens & Sculpture Park* Modern Stone Circle etc (SE2139577417)
 6.7km SW 215° Billey Keld* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SE2251376193)
 6.8km N 3° St Gregory's Church (Bedale)* Early Christian Sculptured Stone (SE266885)
 6.8km SSE 156° Castle Dikes Hillfort (SE291755)
 7.6km E 100° Quernhow (Ainderby Quernhow) Cairn (SE33818045)
 7.7km SE 127° St Mary (Wath)* Ancient Cross (SE32517715)
 7.8km WSW 256° Fearby, Masham* Stone Circle (SE188798)
 8.0km E 96° Sinderby Henge (SE34288100)
 8.4km ENE 77° Money Hill (Pickhill)* Artificial Mound (SE3451583693)
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"St Michael's Well (Well)" | Login/Create an Account | 2 News and Comments
  
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Re: St Michael's Well by Sunny100 on Monday, 04 April 2011
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Thanks for that rogerkread, you have made us all feel very happy at TNA. Cheers. We aim to get things right !!
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Re: St Michael's Well by rogerkread on Monday, 04 April 2011
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Visited the site today, and I have to say the description given here is rather misleading, quite apart from all the irrelevant photographs. There is no well house and it is doubtful if there ever has been one. The well is on the south side of the road, not the north, though the OS map erroneously marks it on the north side. The spring arises beneath a magnesian limestone outcrop, the water passing beneath the road to re-emerge from a pipe on the north side. There is a rather fanciful drawing and some folklore on the Northern Antiqurian website, which in this instance (unusually) appears more accurate than good old megalithic.co.uk. [http://megalithix.wordpress.com/2009/04/25/st-michaels-well/]
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