Featured: Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

Ark of Secrets - Neolithic spirit alive in the Middle Ages

Random Image


The Annicu Stone

Stonehenge Tea Towels - Worldwide delivery

Stonehenge Tea Towels - Worldwide delivery

Who's Online

There are currently, 213 guests and 6 members online.

You are a guest. To join in, please register for free by clicking here

Sponsors

More Choices

Contribute to our running costs
Webrings
News Feeds
Megalithic Mysteries
Our Online Shop

<< Our Photo Pages >> Egg Well - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Staffordshire

Submitted by TimPrevett on Monday, 29 March 2004  Page Views: 32972

Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Egg Well Alternative Name: Ashenhurst Well
Country: England County: Staffordshire Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Leek  Nearest Village: Bradnop
Map Ref: SK00565403  Landranger Map Number: 119
Latitude: 53.083490N  Longitude: 1.993092W
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
 3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 3 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.
 4 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
 5

Internal Links:
External Links:

I have visited· I would like to visit

BrownEdger visited on 3rd Sep 2011 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Improvements have been made to the site with an information board and fence to stop the local livestock crowding round the entrance!

Egg Well
Egg Well submitted by TimPrevett : The cross shaped chamber, and stick I used to approximately gauge depth. Also notice the floating dead bodies - at least two frogs, and I think, something resembling a rat... (Vote or comment on this photo)
Holy Well / Spring in Staffordshire

This well is recorded as Pastscape Monument No. 305789, which tells us the well is commonly called the Egg Well because of the oval way it is enclosed in masonry. "Tradition ascribes considerable medicinal properties to Ashenhurst Well, or Egg Well, ... which is of Roman origin." They also add: "Tradition ascribes considerable medicinal properties to Ashenhurst Well, or Egg Well, ... which is of Roman origin." They date the house to late 17th to early 18th century, with 20th century brick enclosure and flat roof in stone slabs.

The Egg Well is also featured on The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) - see their entry for Egg Well, Ashenhurst, Leek, Staffordshire which has photographs of the well housing and the well basin, together with directions for finding this site, a brief archaeology and history and folklore. TNA add that the Latin inscription on the basin reads: "“Renibus, et splenui cordi, jecorique medatur, Mille maelsi prodest ista salubris aqua.” The translation being: “The liver, kidneys, heart’s disease these waters remedy. And by their healing powers assuage full many a malady.”
You may be viewing yesterday's version of this page. To see the most up to date information please register for a free account.


Egg Well
Egg Well submitted by TimPrevett : The view having gone around the block, and entered the door; a latin inscription translates as: "Whatever of inward ailings may be yours, thousands of such this healing water cures" Hmmmn... not touching it with dead frogs and a rat in there... (Vote or comment on this photo)

Egg Well
Egg Well submitted by TimPrevett : This gives some idea of the water's depth... a subsequent poke with a stick near 6ft long practically submerged it. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Egg Well
Egg Well submitted by TimPrevett : The rather unspectacular housing for the Egg Well; track to / from parking to the right. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Do not use the above information on other web sites or publications without permission of the contributor.

Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SK0053 : Green Lane towards Egg Well by Ralph Mills
by Ralph Mills
©2006(licence)
SK0053 : Roost Hill and Revedge by Dave Dunford
by Dave Dunford
©2007(licence)
SK0054 : At the entrance to Ashenhurst Hall by Neil Theasby
by Neil Theasby
©2023(licence)
SK0053 : Countryside south of Ashenhurst by Neil Theasby
by Neil Theasby
©2023(licence)
SK0054 : Stream running towards Ashenhurst by Ralph Mills
by Ralph Mills
©2006(licence)

The above images may not be of the site on this page, they are loaded from Geograph.
Please Submit an Image of this site or go out and take one for us!


Click here to see more info for this site

Nearby sites

Click here to view sites on an interactive OS map

Key: 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
 2.6km SW 219° The Butter Cross (Cheddleton)* Ancient Cross (SJ989520)
 2.7km NW 316° Lady Well (Leek)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SJ9871455940)
 3.3km NW 321° Nicholson Museum and Art Gallery* Museum (SJ985566)
 3.4km NW 319° St Edward the Confessor* Ancient Cross (SJ9831956617)
 3.6km NW 311° Cock Low (Leek)* Round Barrow(s) (SJ9783656426)
 4.0km SSE 162° Ipstones tympanum* Early Christian Sculptured Stone (SK01785022)
 4.5km ESE 103° The Morridge Stone Circle (SK0553)
 4.7km NNE 22° Thorncliffe Barrow Round Barrow(s) (SK023584)
 5.1km NNW 335° Nine Pins* Stone Circle (SJ984587)
 5.2km SE 144° Hopestone ; Ipstones/Foxt ; Staffordshire Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (SK0361049834)
 6.4km N 358° Leekfrith Tumulus* Round Barrow(s) (SK003604)
 6.4km N 355° Leekfrith Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SK000604)
 6.4km NE 45° Elkstone Barrow 1* Round Barrow(s) (SK05155855)
 6.4km NE 46° Elkstone Barrow 2 Round Barrow(s) (SK052585)
 6.6km E 80° Grindon Moor Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SK071552)
 6.6km E 79° Hurst Low* Round Barrow(s) (SK071553)
 7.0km SE 134° Windywaycross* Early Christian Sculptured Stone (SK056492)
 7.5km NNE 27° Merryton Low 2* Round Barrow(s) (SK040607)
 7.6km E 101° Grub Low* Round Barrow(s) (SK08045255)
 7.8km N 0° The Roaches* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (SK006618)
 7.8km NNE 27° Merryton Low 1* Round Barrow(s) (SK041610)
 7.9km N 2° Sainter's Circle* Stone Circle (SK008619)
 7.9km N 2° Bawd Stone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (SK0079561976)
 8.0km E 87° All Saints (Grindon) Early Christian Sculptured Stone (SK086545)
 8.0km NNW 333° Gun Hill Standing Stone* Standing Stone (Menhir) (SJ969612)
View more nearby sites and additional images

<< St Mary's Well (Maenclochog)

Wizard's Well >>

Please add your thoughts on this site

Contribute!

· NEW: I have visited
· I would like to visit
· Submit an Image
· Add a description
· Give accurate position
· Add a comment or news about this site

Explore Brittany with the amazing Megalithic Portal smartphone app

Explore Brittany with the amazing Megalithic Portal smartphone app

Sponsors

Auto-Translation (Google)

Translate from English into:

"Egg Well" | Login/Create an Account | 15 News and Comments
  
Go back to top of page    Comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content.
Re: Egg Well by BrownEdger on Monday, 28 November 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
The shiny new visitor information board reads:-

The Egg Well - ancient source of water

"There is little known about the Egg Well - except that it is very old. It is thought to have been used by the Romans.

Now housed in a 20th Century enclosure, originally the well was probably a simple spring surrounded by rocks in a woodland landscape.

The stonework you can see around the 'egg' is thought to be late 17th or early 18th Century. The latin inscription by the water translates as:
Whatever of inward ailings may be yours,
thousands of such this healing water cures.
This suggests that the well was more than just a source of water. Travellers may even have come to this well seeking its healing properties.

Imagine the generations of people over the ages drawing sustenance from the well's waters..."

There are also three well-related quotations scattered around the images and text on the board. These read as follows:-
"What clear, cool water to satisfy this traveller's thirst. I have heard much of this sacred spring and leave feeling stronger and restored."

"Sacred well, cleanse my child of the sickness within him. Cool his fever with your icy waters."

"Thank ye for quenching my thirst when all around is dry and parched this harvest time. May ye never run dry."

The three images on the board show water pouring down into a cupped pair of hands. A small child helping to pour water from a tri-handled earthenware vessel onto the hand of an accompanying adult and finally a rather grubby pair of hands placing a small bowl (as an offering?) onto a straw strewn surface.

Besides the Natural England logo int he bottom right-hand corner of the panel text reads:- "Egg Well is an important part of local heritage and it is valued and managed within farmland under a Stewardship Agreement, funded by Natural England.

It is a Scheduled Monument and therefore the use of metal detectors is strictly forbidden.

A fence has been put up between the well entrance and the adjacent field for the protection of visitors against any grazing stock; please keep dogs under control when visiting this site."

The small red sign that can be seen in the photographs at the top of the page is still leaning against the wall inside the building, and yes the glass in the frame is still cracked.
[ Reply to This ]
    Re: Egg Well by Sunny100 on Monday, 28 November 2011
    (User Info | Send a Message)
    Hi, I am interested in the holy and sacred wells around Stoke on Trent and have a list of quite a few from around that area, some now rather forgotten. I lived in Stoke for 5 years 1998-2003. Are you named after the place called 'Brown Edge' ?
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: Egg Well by BrownEdger on Monday, 12 September 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
Hi Runemage, the masonry PAB refers to, or rather quotes the Bords regarding, is the actual well surround itself not the modern 'bus shelter' building surrounding the well.

If you look at the pictures at the top of this page you will see that the 'floor' of the sunken well surround is cruciform in shape and into that, just through the mass of leaves and stuff, you may be able to pick out the oval outline of the actual well housing itself (the third picture gives the clearest view). In the centre of that egg-shaped well housing is the well shaft itself.

As I said the well has been cleared of all that debris now so if anyone with a digital camera cares to go and take a photo to post on here then you will be able to see very clearly the oval 'egg' shape of the well.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Egg Well by Runemage on Tuesday, 06 September 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
Ah, that's interesting, thank-you for looking that up :-) From my limited experience, wells are often named after the particular cure they evoke, headache and eye being the commonest names in those classifications, that's why I was wondering about the egg possibility. I reckon the Bords are a reliable source, althought the present-day housing doesn't look very egg-shaped in the image above. Perhaps a side elevation would show it better.
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Egg Well by PAB on Tuesday, 06 September 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
Rune, I see from the rather ancient copy I have of Janet & Colin Bord's book 'Sacred Waters' that 'the well's name may derive from the oval shape of the masonry which surrounds it.'

Not visited it myself, so can't judge whether that's likely?
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Egg Well by Runemage on Tuesday, 06 September 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
It's an unusual name, does anyone have any idea of its origins? Is the water sulphurous - I'd have thought previous visitors would have remarked on the eggy smell if it had been.

[ Reply to This ]

Re: Egg Well by BrownEdger on Monday, 05 September 2011
(User Info | Send a Message)
The site is being managed in partnership with Natural England and has had some improvements made to it. There is now a very nice information board located outside the site on the trackway opposite the house. The Well has been drained and all the rubbish cleared out of it. The fence by the entrance has also been improved.
[ Reply to This ]

Egg Well Access by TimPrevett on Thursday, 26 July 2007
(User Info | Send a Message)
£100 release fee from clamping if you ignore the sign approaching the well! Park before that sign, tight on the right, then a 10 minute walk or so, going left in front of the large gate posts. The well is in a 'bunker' on the right, opposite a bungalow.
[ Reply to This ]

Egg Well on YouTube by TimPrevett on Thursday, 26 July 2007
(User Info | Send a Message)
Two minute clip of the Egg Well on YouTube
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Egg Well by Anonymous on Tuesday, 10 August 2004
the egg well is said to be at least roman, but is probably much older.Leek St Edwards church is a pagan site where you can see a double sunset on mid summers eve. there is also capped spring on the site westwood high school is said to be the site of a roman camp poss pre roman. There was a burial mound where the spring gardens mill now stands called Cocklow. this was excavated. dieulacres abbey on private land nr the abbey green pub is said to be where the tale of sir gawain and the green knight was written and based. Gunn hill once a gibbet site and Hillswood are both archeologically significant areas i believe Heather Ex leekensian
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Egg Well by Anonymous on Tuesday, 10 August 2004
my father told me this was at least roman, the romans were said to have a camp on what is now the site of the leek westwood high school. The name and remains of the wall from the wall bridge estate also show this link westwood road rec is supposed to show bronze age field systems linked to the Cocklow Burial mound saddly distroyed due to victorian mill development. St Edwards churchyard has a sacred spring (there are many in leek) and the site of the mid summer double sunset, The church is long known to be a pagan site. The area around leek is believed to be the site of the tale of Sir Gawain and the green Knight, Written by a Dieulacres Abbey monk, The Remains are on private grounds near the Abbey pub. Hillswood and gunn hill are also i believe sites of pagan significance, as is the Mermaid pool near the pub of the same name
[ Reply to This ]

Your Name: Anonymous [ Register Now ]
Subject:


Add your comment or contribution to this page. Spam or offensive posts are deleted immediately, don't even bother

<<< What is five plus one as a number? (Please type the answer to this question in the little box on the left)
You can also embed videos and other things. For Youtube please copy and paste the 'embed code'.
For Google Street View please include Street View in the text.
Create a web link like this: <a href="https://www.megalithic.co.uk">This is a link</a>  

Allowed HTML is:
<p> <b> <i> <a> <img> <em> <br> <strong> <blockquote> <tt> <li> <ol> <ul> <object> <param> <embed> <iframe>
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.