<< Our Photo Pages >> Wishing Well at Waggoners Wells - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Hampshire
Submitted by jamesrattue on Thursday, 15 October 2015 Page Views: 6760
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Wishing Well at Waggoners WellsCountry: England
NOTE: This site is 2.444 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Hampshire Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Village: Grayshott
Map Ref: SU857342
Latitude: 51.100709N Longitude: 0.777416W
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:
Following the main path through Waggoners Wells – which it should be remembered are not wells at all but substantial ponds resulting from the damming of the headwaters of the Wey – brings us to a house just west of the topmost pool and, built into the garden wall, the Wishing Well, a sandy-bottomed spring built up with stones into a semicircular well, from which the water pours through a gap and down a tiny cascade out into the river.
It is said that Lord Tennyson composed 'The Flower in the Crannied Wall' here in 1863 (and a plaque calls attention to the story), and website after website will tell you that novelist Flora Thompson (assistant postmistress at Grayshott for three years around 1900) referred to it. At that time it would have looked significantly different. In fact if the dates of extant photographs are accurate they imply that the well was reconstructed between 1925 and 1928 to form what seems to be a large-ish pool with a stone surround, and then again some time later in the shape we see it today, demonstrating again how a well which may look as though it's been there since time immemorial may actually be relatively recent in form.
Flora Thompson refers to pins being dropped into the water as a wishing charm ('quite a number of them dropped in by herself'), but when she revisited the site in the 1920s she found the well much neglected and no memorylocally of its wishing powers. It's possible that the Wishing Well is a truly ancient folkloric spring that found itself part of the 19th-century tourist circuit, but my guess is that the stories about it took off after Waggoners Wells became a popular picnicking spot - especially as it isn't named on the 1st edition of the OS map. It's also worth noting that the Flora Thompson accounts seem to come from John Owen Smith's 1997 book "On the Trail of Flora Thompson" which argues that her novel "Heatherley" contains a disguised account of her time in Grayshott - a view which may not be entirely unproblematic.
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.
Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
©2020(licence)
©2013(licence)
©2009(licence)
©2018(licence)
©2009(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 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
5.0km ESE 104° Haslemere Educational Museum* Museum (SU9061833107)
6.5km N 358° Frensham Common Barrows* Barrow Cemetery (SU85334070)
10.2km S 187° Hammer Wood Fort* Hillfort (SU847240)
10.6km NNE 18° Tilford Barrows Barrow Cemetery (SU889443)
10.9km NW 316° Binsted Cursus Cursus (SU7842)
11.2km S 188° St Mary's Church (Chithurst) Artificial Mound (SU84252310)
11.4km NNE 19° Crooksbury Common Barrows* Barrow Cemetery (SU893450)
11.6km N 7° St. Mary's Well (Compton)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SU870457)
11.9km NNE 18° Culverswell Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SU892456)
12.1km S 186° Fitzhall Heath 5* Barrow Cemetery (SU8473122134)
12.1km N 9° Botany Hill Camp Hillfort (SU875462)
12.2km NNE 12° Soldier's Ring* Hillfort (SU880462)
12.3km S 187° Fitzhall Heath 4* Barrow Cemetery (SU8441621923)
12.4km S 184° Fitzhall Heath 2* Barrow Cemetery (SU8513721803)
12.5km S 187° Fitzhall Heath 3* Round Barrow(s) (SU84332180)
12.6km S 185° Fitzhall Heath 1* Barrow Cemetery (SU849216)
12.6km NW 307° Binsted Holy Well* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SU755417)
12.6km S 189° Goldrings Warren* Round Barrow(s) (SU8392821677)
12.9km ESE 112° Piper's Copse Fort* Hillfort (SU978295)
13.0km S 183° Minsted Round Barrows* Barrow Cemetery (SU85152125)
13.5km SSE 148° St. Peter's Well (Lodsworth)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SU9313022861)
13.6km SW 226° St. Mary's Well (Sheet)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SU761246)
13.6km SSW 212° West Heath Barrow Cemetery* Barrow Cemetery (SU78602262)
13.6km NE 55° Lady Well (Tuesley)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SU968421)
13.7km NNE 24° Hillbury hillfort* Hillfort (SU911468)
View more nearby sites and additional images
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.