<< Text Pages >> St Mary's Well (Penwortham) - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in England in Lancashire
Submitted by Sunny100 on Monday, 10 January 2011 Page Views: 12905
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: St Mary's Well (Penwortham) Alternative Name: St Mary's Spring, Church Avenue WellCountry: England County: Lancashire Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Penwortham
Map Ref: SD5232328579
Latitude: 53.751385N Longitude: 2.724505W
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 Lancashire
The well/spring is located about halfway along Church Avenue and the High Road (A58/9) close to St Mary's church, in the suburb of Penwortham, Preston. It certainly existed in medieval times, but it is known to have been here long before that. Up until the 19th century the well was much visited by Catholic pilgrims attracted by its miraculous healing qualities. Indeed it is known that Benedictine monks from the nearby priory of Penwortham visited and also looked after the well between 1075-1535.
Sadly, today the well is almost forgotten. It is, however, marked by what is perhaps the pedestal of a cross with a flat stone embedded in the ground at the side. This may have acted as a marker stone for the well. The sad remains of this holy well lies under tree cover, in what is often a muddy area. A long hollow in the ground with some masonry and an oblong stone trough are all that remain. But the spring still runs into the hollow which is said never to run dry. In this area and on Penwortham Hill a ghostly troop of Roman soldiers have been seen.
About a hundred yards back along Church Avenue stands St Mary's church, a 14-15th century building, standing on the site of a Saxon ediface from the time of St Wilfrid in 664 CE. In the churchyard at the back of the church stands a tree-clad mound. This probably dates back to the Dark Ages when it was a small hillfort, but later a "small" Norman motte and bailey castle was built upon it. Some local historians claim it to be a prehistoric tumulus ?
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