<< Our Photo Pages >> Anchorite Well (Kendal) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Cumbria
Submitted by Anne T on Wednesday, 22 June 2022 Page Views: 909
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Anchorite Well (Kendal)Country: England
NOTE: This site is 2.425 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Cumbria Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Kendale
Map Ref: SD5140691932
Latitude: 54.320643N Longitude: 2.748573W
Condition:
| 5 | Perfect |
| 4 | Almost Perfect |
| 3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
| 2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
| 1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
| 0 | No data. |
| -1 | Completely destroyed |
| 5 | Superb |
| 4 | Good |
| 3 | Ordinary |
| 2 | Not Good |
| 1 | Awful |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
| 4 | Short walk on a footpath |
| 3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
| 2 | A long walk |
| 1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
| 0 | No data. |
| 5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
| 4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
| 3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
| 2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
| 1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
| 0 | no data |
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I have visited· I would like to visit
Anne T visited on 21st Jun 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 3 Access: 4 Anchorite Well, Kendal: a short-ish walk from Trinity Church (Kendal Parish Church), through a modern housing estate. The roads have some interesting names: Buttery Well Road (couldn't find the well, though), Mint Cake Cottages and Kirkbarrow.
The well was easily spotted as there is a large green metal sign at the entrance to the site.
Beautifully clear water. Would have liked to have been able to walk all the way around the well pool, but the western side path was private access only to the cottages.
This holy well is Grade II listed as Historic England List ID 1145729.
A sign at the entrance to the well site tell us: "This is Kendal's oldest religious site. Before the coming of Christianity the spring that feeds the Well was probably a site of pagan worship. The water never runs dry and was thought to have miraculous healing powers. Over a thousand years ago a hermit lived here and later St. Mary's Chantry was built here and later St. Mary's Chantry was built here around the 6th century. In the 13th century its work was taken over by the Parish Church. The Well was gradually forgotten and fell into dereliction until restored in recent years. Kendal Civic Society".
The Historic England entry tells us: "(this is a) Spring, associated with a medieval hermit. Coursed, squared rubble enclosure wall (c4 ft high on south and west sides) possibly partly medieval. Spring originally 6-7 ft deep; filled up to within 6 ins of surface in late C20".
Sited within a modern housing estate, it is a short-ish (12 minutes at a slow pace) from the car park next to Kendal Parish Church (Holy Trinity) and the Blind Beck.
The water within the well is incredibly clear, and small ripples can be seen on the surface of the well pool, presumably (as there was no breeze), the water coming up through the sand into the pool.
Well worth a visit.
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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
349m NE 53° The Kendal Cross* Ancient Cross (SD5168692141)
1.3km NNE 22° Kendal Museum* Museum (SD519931)
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6.0km S 188° Levens Park ring cairn 2* Ring Cairn (SD5053385945)
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