<< Our Photo Pages >> Holy Well (St. Albans) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Hertfordshire
Submitted by DavidCWoods on Sunday, 21 August 2005 Page Views: 19647
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Holy Well (St. Albans) Alternative Name: St Alban's Well (St Albans)Country: England County: Hertfordshire Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: St. Albans
Map Ref: TL14640670
Latitude: 51.747279N Longitude: 0.340824W
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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Holy Well or Sacred Spring in Hertfordshire
I visited the site in August 2005, expecting from my records to find at most a manhole cover and was delighted to find a preserved well. Turning left heading down Holywell Hill I parked in Belmont Hill and took the footpath on the right heading downhill into the estate. A hundred yards or so down the path, on the left was a square containing a hedged and fenced enclosure. Each of the four sides had a small staircase leading down to a central recess. This contained a square well housing, slightly offset from the direction of the sides of the square.
For more information see: Pastscape Monument No. 361910 which tells us: "Hope (1893) recounts the legend of the martyrdom of St Alban in AD 303 and relates how a spring of water sprang up under his feet when he prayed for water to quench his thirst."
The Northern Antiquarian (TNA) also features a page for this holy well - see their entry for St. Alban’s Well, St. Albans, Hertfordshire, which quotes from several 19th and 20th century references, which includes local folklore.
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