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Stonehenge Sacred Symbolism - Ancient Beliefs in Britain and Northern Europe

Stonehenge Sacred Symbolism - Ancient Beliefs in Britain and Northern Europe

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<< Our Photo Pages >> Lidwell - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Devon

Submitted by KiwiBetsy on Tuesday, 06 April 2004  Page Views: 21582

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Lidwell
Country: England County: Devon Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Dawlish
Map Ref: SX924761  Landranger Map Number: 170
Latitude: 50.574701N  Longitude: 3.520927W
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
no data Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
no data 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.
no data 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
3
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I have visited· I would like to visit

EbenMC visited on 24th Jul 2023 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 1 Very hard to access through an ancient bog but a beautiful and tranquil spot (despite what the legends suggest happened there). Wellies are essential, I lost a shoe in said bog.

Mabel_Smith visited on 3rd Dec 2018 - their rating: Cond: 2 Amb: 4 Access: 2 Easy enough to find if you know what you’re looking for. The safest path from Bishopsteignton is via the steep public footpath on the corner of Berry Hill and Teignview Road. Follow this path all the way to the road at the top of the hill and go right towards the golf course until you reach the Gypsy Corner sign post, go left on the Exeter road and all the way up passed the golf course until you meet the busy B3192. Carefully cross to the other side and walk a short way South on it until you see a sign for the public footpath on your left. Continue and you will reach a stile with another green public footpath sign, go through and continue until you reach a fork with a wooden post featuring small round public footpath indicators, take the right fork down into the trees, this is where it starts to get muddy! Continue and you will reach what is now the border of a field with a fence and a stile, but was once the ancient road to Exeter. Go through the stile and you will notice a brook on your left, follow this brook keeping the tree line on your left and you will start to see the eaves of the remaining wall of the chapel hidden in the trees ahead. Continue and you will find a wooden gate next to a sign warning you to walk no further down the hill as you will no longer be on public land. Enter the wooden gate and brave the short muddy track leading to the Victorian iron fence. A sign here used to read ‘Lidwell Chapel circa 13th century’ but some of it has sadly rotted away. You can enter the iron gate and wander around, careful on a wet day as it is very muddy. The ruin is overgrown and slowly degrading due to damage from ivy. It is almost miraculous that this much of the building still stands, it seems well protected from storms and wind by the trees and landscape. People have left small tributes in the form of crosses, I assume to help keep the site sacred. The well is nowhere to be seen, probably long filled in and buried in the mud and undergrowth. The atmosphere here is tranquil and pleasant. It feels like a place that has been well loved and cherished despite its gruesome early history and I wish to make this pilgrimage often in order to pay homage to the spirits who reside in and protect this place from harm.



Average ratings for this site from all visit loggers: Condition: 2 Ambience: 4 Access: 1.5

Lidwell
Lidwell submitted by KiwiBetsy : This lonely spot is home to the remains of a small 13th century chapel. Although neatly fenced it is almost impossible to visit without Wellington boots as the whole area is running with water some of which flows from the well which is just on the right inside the iron fence. It used to be in a corner of the chapel before it became a ruin. The well can be seen in the right about half way between t... (Vote or comment on this photo)
This lonely spot is home to the remains of a small 13th century chapel. Although neatly fenced it is almost impossible to visit without Wellington boots as the whole area is running with water some of which flows from the well which is just on the right inside the iron fence. It used to be in a corner of the chapel before it became a ruin.

Early in the 14th century the chapel was home to a monk who chose to supplement his income by luring in travellers who he then robbed, murdered and disposed of by tossing them into the well.

The name Lidwell is thought to be a corruption of Lady Well. The chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary or St Mary Magdalene.

To visit the site take the Exeter road (A379) from Teignmouth, pass the Teignmouth golf course on the left and park in the parking area on the right hand side of the road. Walk back about 200 yards to a footpath on your left. Climb over an iron bar and take the track veering right to drop steeply down into a wood. At the fenceline a stile takes you into a steep field. The chapel is about 50 yards downhill to the left.
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Lidwell
Lidwell submitted by Maia : Near Dawlish, Lidwell Chapel and Holy Well (SS 924 761) This Lidwell ('Lady's' Well) Chapel is Roman, but on the site of a much older spring fed well. There are stories of ghosts and high energy vortices connected to this site. (4 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Lidwell
Lidwell submitted by Mabel_Smith : View of chapel remains from just inside the iron gate at midday on 3/12/18. Unedited. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Lidwell
Lidwell submitted by EbenMC : Lidwell Chapel looking very overgrown on the 24/7/23 (Vote or comment on this photo)

Lidwell
Lidwell submitted by hoya105 : Last standing wall (Vote or comment on this photo)

Lidwell
Lidwell submitted by hoya105 : The evocative Lidwell Chapel... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Lidwell
Lidwell submitted by Mabel_Smith : The state of the sign. Midday on 3/12/18.

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"Lidwell" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Re: Lidwell by Anonymous on Sunday, 04 March 2018
I am the granddaughter of John James Lidwell. His father, Henry Wright Lidwell was from Coalville, Lancestershire, England, United Kingdom.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Lidwell by Anonymous on Sunday, 01 April 2007
My name is Margaret Lidwell, I,m from the USA and I,m researching my family which lived in Leicestershire, but moved to USA in 1903.
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Re: Lidwell by Anonymous on Saturday, 28 October 2006
I live in the farm house known as Lidwell farm and when sitting in the lounge at night with the curtains open, a shadow is often seen walking pass the window. The original house burnt down many years ago and was rebuilt further up the hill possibly on the track to the chapel, This could explain the lost souls trying to find their way back.
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Lidwell by Anonymous on Tuesday, 29 December 2009
    I used to live in that house - lots of strange happenings up there!
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Lidwell by AngieLake on Tuesday, 07 December 2004
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Lidwell, according to Terry Faul, in his book "Secrets of the Hidden Source - In Search of Devon's Ancient and Holy Wells", has a dark history. Inland from Dawlish on the south Devon coast, and, (quote): "Tucked under the hill are the remains of a small 13th century chantry chapel which was dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was occupied by a monk or clergyman who gained a reputation for luring travellers to the chapel and then robbing and killing them. After the Reformation in the 16th century, the chapel was abandoned and when the well was investigated it was found to contain the bones of several women and children. Today it is a lonely spot and the water of the well is black and devoid of life. Traditional uses: Lost."

Another story comes from an excellent website http://www.bath.ac.uk/lispring/sourcearchive/fs9/fs9lh1.htm
(Quote): "The site of one of Devon's most gruesome legends. The chapel and well are reached by a footpath leading east from the B3192 which runs along the crest of Little Haldon Hill between Telegraph Hill and Teignmouth. The path drops steeply into a coombe where the chapel may be seen in the trees, surrounded by iron railings. The walls of the chapel survive up to the eaves, but it somehow lacks the atmosphere of other ruins where a lot less survives. Just to the north is a narrow gully. The spring at its head is all that remains of the holy well. There has probably been headward erosion of the spring, and the water originally welled up next to the chapel (in dry periods the gully can be dry for a considerable distance below the chapel). Many stories are told about a monk who lived at the chapel and used to lure passing travellers into the chapel. Once there, he would rob and murder them, disposing of the bodies in the well (rather a strange arrangement if the well was used for drinking water!) The chapel became newsworthy in the late 1970s when a Bristol photographer who took a picture of the chapel found that the developed print revealed a fully formed chapel instead of the remains."
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