<< Our Photo Pages >> St. Agnes Well - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Somerset
Submitted by holywell on Friday, 13 January 2017 Page Views: 17755
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St. Agnes Well Alternative Name: Holy wellCountry: England County: Somerset Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Taunton Nearest Village: Cothelstone
Map Ref: ST18423186
Latitude: 51.080239N Longitude: 3.165981W
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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External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
lichen visited on 20th May 2022 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 4 Access: 4
kflueck visited on 11th Sep 2013 - their rating: Cond: 4 Amb: 5 Access: 4 You drive from Bishop's Lydeard towards Cothelstone. Park in the curve just out of Cothelsone. Coming from Cothelstone the well is on the left hand side, behinde the small creek. The first signpost is not easy to see beside of the road due to overgrown woods. It takes you down to the small creek and further to a pasture. At the second signepost follow it towards northeast and in the corner is St. Agnes Well. About 5min. to walk.
The Well is very nice setup and wonderfully restored. A nice and quiet site full of privacy. The Water wonderfull and fresh. Interesting history and legends about Pixies and the use of this holy water. Worth to see and discover.
hevveh have visited here
Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 4 Ambience: 4.5 Access: 4
[This section written before the recent restoration:] An ancient conical well house often swamped by tall horsetails and covered in fernery and herbs, which lends a rustic and mysterious feel to the site. Removing the surrounding vegetation will reveal more of this little six foot high conical stone structure.
Its water is accessed via an arched doorway on the west side, believed by Horne (1923 ) to show clearly its Perpendicular origins (although there is no written evidence.) Once opening the small wooden door, one can see that a large volume of clear shallow water. According to Horne (1923) the water rises from the centre and flows under the step to an underground channel some distance to emerge as a large pool : obviously for livestock. A pipe leads out of the well indicating that it is directly tanked for farm use.
Horne (1923) suggests that the dedication may have been inspired by a lady of the manor of the name of Agnes Cheney, who married the local squire, Edward Stowel. The well was once visited by lovers, usually on St Agnes' Eve to find their futures.
It is a bit difficult to find look for a small iron gate set in the side of the road to Cothelstone Hill. Cross a stream and turning right the well will be clearly seen, if probably immersed in foliage.
Note: Details of a recent project to restore St. Agnes Well along with a free iPhone app which tells its history
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