<< Our Photo Pages >> St Helen's Well (Croyde) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Devon
Submitted by AngieLake on Sunday, 14 April 2013 Page Views: 8196
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Helen's Well (Croyde) Alternative Name: Lady Well (Croyde)Country: England
NOTE: This site is 1.2 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Devon Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Barnstaple Nearest Village: Croyde
Map Ref: SS4440538970
Latitude: 51.128816N Longitude: 4.225008W
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 |
Internal Links:
External Links:
I have visited· I would like to visit
PAB would like to visit
geoffstickland has visited here
Earlier I'd done a search for St. Helen while doing Celtic Sanctuary research and discovered that there is an ancient chapel of the same name nearby, so I was also looking for that building, to no avail. Walking back down Cott Lane I noticed a large modern property named 'Ladywell'. Following the garden wall, I suddenly spotted the holy well, tucked away down the little side lane.
I called into a nearby shop to ask the owner if he knew where the chapel was, and he pointed to a high wall opposite, and just peeping above it were the ruins of the chapel. There was no way to see this building, which is in a private garden, though one can walk around that property via a narrow lane opposite the well lane.
The priory no longer exists, though there's a business called the Priory Hotel, I think.
Quote from the newspaper write-up (probably the North Devon Journal):
"In the village itself there is much to see and do. The oldest building in Croyde is St Helen's Chapel in Cott Lane. It was built in the 12th century and is dedicated to the Celtic Saint Endelentia who brought Christianity to the village. Opposite the chapel, in a tiny lane behind St Helen's Priory, is the Holy Well, or Lady Well, which was blessed by Saint Endelentia and was popular with pilgrims for centuries."
I googled for St Helen's Chapel in Croyde when reading about the saint, and making copies for my files, while doing Celtic Sanctuary research. In her book 'The Magic and Mystery of Holy Wells' author Edna Whelan mentions the predominance of St Helen's Wells in Yorkshire. She says:
"However, in the North of England, including Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, Lancashire, and Yorkshire, we have a predominance of Holy Wells dedicated to St. Helen. It is thought that St. Helen, who was the wife of the Roman Emperor Constantius and the mother of Constantine the Great, was a Celtic Princess and therefore this makes her particularly identified with Yorkshire and Lancashire as this area was ruled by the Celtic tribe of the Brigantes."
I've just remembered my book on Devon's Holy Wells 'Secrets of the Hidden Source' by Terry Faull, and he writes this about it:
"St Helen's Chapel was a daughter-house to the Benedictine Priory at nearby Pilton [that's in Barnstaple], and the remains have been built into a cottage here. There is some debate about the identity of St Helen as some authorities believe she was a Celtic Saint, others say she is the martyr of that name from 12th century Sweden. Most now accept that St Helen, or Helena, was the mother of Constantine, the Roman Emperor, who recognised Christianity as an official religion. St Helena, from the time of her conversion around 320 BC, founded a number of churches throughout the Roman Empire including in Rome and the Holy Land.
There are churches dedicated to St Helen in Devon including across the bay from Croyde at Abbotsham, on Lundy, and in Cornwall including chapels near Land's End and on the Isles of Scilly. The little well-house is in excellent condition and the spring which feeds it is one of a number which break along the spring-line here." Traditional uses: Lost.
Terry Faull gives Grid Ref: "SS445392", but I think that might place it a little too far north. He describes access: "Good public access; the well is down a little lane near the cottages on the site of St Helen's Chapel at Croyde."
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.
Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.
Click here to see more info for this site
Nearby sites
Click here to view sites on an interactive OS mapKey: Red: member's photo, Blue: 3rd party photo, Yellow: other image, Green: no photo - please go there and take one, Grey: site destroyed
Download sites to:
KML (Google Earth)
GPX (GPS waypoints)
CSV (Garmin/Navman)
CSV (Excel)
To unlock full downloads you need to sign up as a Contributory Member. Otherwise downloads are limited to 50 sites.
Turn off the page maps and other distractions
Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
4.4km E 97° Knowle Castle* Hillfort (SS488383)
4.6km ESE 108° St. Brannoc's Holy Well (Braunton)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SS487374)
5.0km N 11° Woolacombe Memorial* Modern Stone Circle etc (SS45494389)
5.7km NNE 17° The Konk Stone* Standing Stones (SS462444)
5.8km NNE 18° Greystone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SS46354443)
6.7km N 11° North Morte Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SS459455)
7.6km NNE 18° Damage Barton* Standing Stones (SS47044615)
7.7km SE 141° Yelland* Multiple Stone Rows / Avenue (SS4912532889)
7.8km NNE 18° Damage Barton 2* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SS47064633)
8.0km NNE 19° Damage Barton 3* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SS47194647)
8.8km NE 34° Whitestone (Lee)* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SS49564613)
9.7km S 187° Shell Middens at Westward Ho!* Ancient Village or Settlement (SS429294)
10.5km ENE 68° Centery Farm Tumuli* Barrow Cemetery (SS543427)
11.9km ESE 112° Pilton Long Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SS55313421)
11.9km ESE 120° Dripping Well (Barnstaple)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SS546327)
12.1km ESE 111° Ladywell (Pilton)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SS556342)
12.4km NE 43° Hillsborough* Hillfort (SS532477)
12.9km ESE 116° Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon* Museum (SS5586732983)
13.0km ESE 105° Burridge Camp Ancient Village or Settlement (SS569352)
13.3km ENE 68° Berry Down Barrow Cemetery (SS569436)
14.2km SE 128° Holy Well (Tawstock)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SS553298)
15.1km NE 56° Newberry Camp Hillfort (SS57164708)
15.3km ENE 69° Mattocks Down Barrow* Long Barrow (SS589439)
16.3km SSW 202° Peppercombe Castle Hillfort (SS379240)
16.4km ENE 71° Mattocks Down Stone Row Stone Row / Alignment (SS6004643921)
View more nearby sites and additional images