<< Our Photo Pages >> Our Lady's Well, Fernyhalgh - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Lancashire
Submitted by jamesrattue on Wednesday, 22 August 2007 Page Views: 38888
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Our Lady's Well, Fernyhalgh Alternative Name: LadyewellCountry: England County: Lancashire Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Preston Nearest Village: Broughton
Map Ref: SD55613362
Latitude: 53.796981N Longitude: 2.675389W
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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Ladyewell is a very active Roman Catholic shrine on the northeast of Preston, consisting of a 17th-century house with an upstairs chapel and a rather bizarre collection of relics, a retreat complex, and the old Holy Well in the grounds.
Ladyewell House was constructed in 1685 to serve as a mass centre for local RCs, but the origins of the site's sanctity are very obscure. There was certainly a chapel here in the middle of the 14th century, but it could have been older. According to the Ladyewell guide book the name 'Fernyhalgh' means 'ancient shrine', but as the Anglo-Saxon for shrine is 'hearw' or 'heorh' I doubt it. In fact, nobody is even sure how to pronounce it. Ferny-hall is sometimes mentioned; most guides insist on Ferny-huff; while a local swore to me it should be Ferny-holsh. An undated legend tells of an Irish merchant swearing to build a chapel in thanks for surviving a storm at sea, and being directed here by a dream.
The well was a pool of water retained within its present walls until in 1905 the nuns occupying the house paved it, constructed steps down to the new well-head, and added a statue. This was replaced by the current one in 1935, and in 1954 the wooden arch the Sisters had built over the well was changed for stone. Within the last few years the tiles and retaining cage under the statue have been added.
I rather like Fernyhalgh, but then I am a clergyman (interestingly the lady in the shop asked whether I was a priest and when I answered that I was, and added rather apologetically that I was an Anglican, she said, 'Yes, I thought so'!). Whether you will depends on how you react to such Popish paraphernalia!
For more information see Pastscape Monument No. 42698. The Journal of Antiquities also includes and entry for Our Lady’s Well (Ladyewell), Fernyhalgh, Lancashire, which includes directions for finding this well, together with drawings of the well and well house, background information and a list of reference sources for more information.
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