<< 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: LidwellCountry: 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:
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
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
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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