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<< 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 Well
Country: England County: Lancashire Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Penwortham
Map Ref: SD5232328579
Latitude: 53.751385N  Longitude: 2.724505W
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
2 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
4

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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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Nearby Images from Geograph Britain and Ireland:
SD5228 : Penwortham War Memorial by Mary and Angus Hogg
by Mary and Angus Hogg
©2019(licence)
SD5228 : Penwortham Brow by David Dixon
by David Dixon
©2015(licence)
SD5228 : Higher Penwortham, Liverpool Road by David Dixon
by David Dixon
©2015(licence)
SD5228 : The pathway down to Penwortham Brow by K  A
by K A
©2013(licence)
SD5228 : A59 about to pass underneath the A582 by Peter Bond
by Peter Bond
©2012(licence)

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 1.8km SW 236° Howick Cross* Ancient Cross (SD5081927574)
 1.8km ENE 66° Minspit Well (Preston) Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SD540293)
 6.0km NNE 32° Our Lady's Well, Fernyhalgh* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SD55613362)
 6.8km SE 132° Hawksclough Hillfort (SD574240)
 7.2km SSE 166° Leyland Town Cross Ancient Cross (SD5400221602)
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 10.9km NNE 12° St Anne's Well (Inglewhite)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (SD547392)
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 13.1km ENE 78° Mellor Brow Mound* Misc. Earthwork (SD6517231081)
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 13.9km N 355° Claughton Hlaew* Round Barrow(s) (SD51274247)
 13.9km SE 135° Black Coppice Chambered Cairn* Chambered Cairn (SD621186)
 14.1km ENE 62° St Wilfrid's Church (Ribchester)* Ancient Cross (SD649350)
 14.5km NNW 347° Catterall Cross* Ancient Cross (SD4920242700)
 14.5km E 85° Beardwood Holed Stone* Holed Stone (SD6684829793)
 14.6km ESE 112° Tocca's Stone* Ancient Cross (SD65842302)
 14.8km NNW 343° Medieval Grave Covers (Churchtown)* Sculptured Stone (SD4818242808)
 15.0km ENE 60° St Saviour's Churchyard (Stydd) Ancient Cross (SD6539435971)
 15.1km E 87° Revidge Moor Barrow* Round Barrow(s) (SD674293)
 15.4km SE 137° Pikestones* Chambered Cairn (SD62691719)
 15.4km SE 132° Round Loaf* Artificial Mound (SD638182)
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"St Mary's Well (Penwortham)" | Login/Create an Account | 1 comment
  
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Re: St Mary's Well (Penwortham) by Anonymous on Saturday, 08 April 2023
Just a some thoughts for anyone looking for this well/spring:

I have known about this well for some time now but after several attempts to try and locate it, I have all but given up. This leads me to believe that it has been buried as a result of being practically forgotten. The path itself is little used as it is covered with fallen trees, encroaching woodland plants, and can be very boggy at the bottom so is not easy to navigate. Perhaps the bog is proof that the spring still flows, but underground these days?

I had read somewhere that when Liverpool Road (A59) was enlarged in the mid 20th century to cope with traffic into Preston, the well (allegedly already disused as a result of being apparently dried up from the changing of the course of the river Ribble) was in the way and simply covered by earthworks to accommodate the road improvements. I don't think it was intentionally covered this way though, as the earlier road layout appears to be virtually unchanged to what it is today.

Depending on which map you look at (presumably older OS maps would be better here as they were drawn up from people who had actually located the well and hence drawn it on the map), the location should be on the right-hand side of the path leading down the hill opposite the War Memorial, somewhere near the bottom. Modern OS maps no longer show location of this well, so perhaps it has been buried for some time.

Here is an old map from the early 20th century which says "St. Mary's Well (Site of)" which I would assume is a fairly accurate location although "Site of" would suggest that the well was forgotten about even then. https://maps.nls.uk/view/128075871

There are no photographs of the well proving its exact location, but there does exist a drawing made in the 1800s of the well in a glade at the bottom of what I can only assume is the path which still exists today opposite the War Memorial. The landscape, however, doesn't look familiar and the well itself appears to be a few feet below the current ground level in a pit similar to that of Ladyewell in Preston. I think the well is the square pit on the left hand side of the drawing down a few stone steps (presumably also buried), but it is hard to tell. I think the gate on the right of the drawing is what is now a style over a fence:

https://d3d00swyhr67nd.cloudfront.net/w1200h1200/collection/LAN/HARR/LAN_HARR_PRSMG_P1614-001.jpg

It would certainly be interesting to find out if the trough of the well is in fact still there as it is an important piece of ancient local history, even if the spring no longer flows.

Regards,
Dave.
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