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.
Something is not right. This message is just to keep things from messing up down the road