Old Radnor Church

Trip No.168  Entry No.1  Date Added: 29th Jul 2021
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Wales (Powys)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Old Radnor Church: Whilst we went to have a look at the standing stone, we spent ages walking around the church, enjoying the peace and quiet and the carvings.

Whilst I was excited to see the standing stone, I was immediately disappointed by the memorial carving on it. This is very reminiscent of the 'standing stone' grave markers in Kensal Green Cemetery, which we researched and were found to be official grave markers, not ancient standing stones.

There was no guide book for sale, but an information leaflet marked 'Leave In the Church', so I photographed a few pages for later references.

There was a very interesting old font, said to be carved from on old standing stone - still to research this one.

Crossfield Lane Barrow (Kinnerton)

Trip No.168  Entry No.4  Date Added: 4th Aug 2021
Site Type: Round Barrow(s) Country: Wales (Powys)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Crossfield Lane Barrow, near Kinnerton: as this was marked on the OS map, and on our way to Kinnerton, we quickly parked in the field entrance (which was put to pasture) and walked a little way along the edge of the field to take a closer look.

The barrow has been largely lost to ploughing, but a low, circular 'hump' in the field can be made out (easier to see with the naked eye rather than in a photograph).

Kinnerton

Trip No.168  Entry No.5  Date Added: 4th Aug 2021
Site Type: Standing Stones Country: Wales (Powys)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Kinnerton Court Standing Stones: We'd walked up into the village first, to see if we could locate the old village wells, but were unsuccessful, as they seemed to have been incorporated into the modern water supply or dried up and disappeared. We did walk up to the Kinnerton Castle Mound, which is actually on private land, but can be seen (and photographed) from various vantage points in the village.

The first stone (the recumbent one) we had difficulty spotting as it was buried in tall grass and weeds, but did spot it reasonably quickly. The other is on the opposite side of the road, in a lush field of pasture, and a very pretty spot.

We thought we were on the footpath as we walked up to the stone, but walking back to the field gate, found the sign actually pointed along the field boundary/hedge-line to the west of the still standing stone. Whoops - sorry.

St Andrew's Church (Presteigne)

Trip No.168  Entry No.6  Date Added: 8th Aug 2021
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: Wales (Powys)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St Andrew's Churchyard Cross, Presteigne: From the Kinnerton Standing Stone, we drove into New Radnor to try and get some lunch, only to find all the shops, pubs and cafe all shut down, which meant driving onto Presteigne. Andrew was keen to see the c1510 AD Flemish tapestry in the church, but as we walked into the churchyard, found this cross, too.

Luston Holy Well

Trip No.169  Entry No.1  Date Added: 8th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Herefordshire)
Visited: Yes on 14th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Luston Holy Well: This well is not shown on the HE map search, or listed on the HE Research Records or Herefordshire SMR. It is located at the corner of the B4361 and Eye Lane.

We parked on Townsend Park, opposite the well and walked across the road.

There is a plaque on the north eastern corner of the well proclaiming it to be a holy well. Can’t (yet) find out any more information about it.

The handle of the pump had been chained and padlocked in place. We couldn’t hear any water flowing, and looking down the drain cover, the water was stagnant.

St John the Baptist (Hope Bagot)

Trip No.169  Entry No.2  Date Added: 8th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Shropshire)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: St John The Baptist, Hope Bagot: We parked in the village hall car park, about the only place in the village we could leave the car, as the lanes here were so narrow. The church was very difficult to spot from the road, but thankfully, a sign in the village hall car park pointed us up some steps, through a gate and straight into the churchyard.

What an unusual old church, very reminiscent of Escomb Saxon Church. Just as we entered the churchyard, we met the Church Warden's wife, who stopped to talk to us, and told us how to find the well (underneath a yew tree at the northern side of the churchyard (approaching the church from the north, there is a wooden gate into the churchyard; come through this gate and take the small path to your right hand side. This leads the 20m or so to the well).

There is also a Victorian well head at SO 58858 74092. The Church Warden's wife told us there were a number of springs in the village.

St Milburga's Well (Stoke St Milborough)

Trip No.169  Entry No.3  Date Added: 9th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Shropshire)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: St Milburga's Well, Stoke St Milborough: We visited the church first of all, and whilst some of the church dates from the 13th century, there was little of this in evidence, the fabric having been restored in Victorian times. The church had been left open, so we looked inside, but not much of note, apart from the lovely geese (I thought they were ducks until I saw the official records) carved into the top of the wooden door into the base of the tower at the west end.

Not having a map for this area, we thought the holy well might be near to the church, but thankfully bumped into the church warden as we exited the church. He was carrying a large wooden stake and hammer, so I joked with him "are you hunting vampires?". It turned out he was marking out a burial plot for a recently deceased villager.

He directed us to the well, but told us that "thanks to the water company, there's very little left of the well". Coming out of the churchyard, we headed south on the minor road, then turned left and headed up the hill, following the road round to the left as it levelled off. Just round this bend, there was a gate into the well enclosure. Steps led down to the well head, which still exists, together with a small well pool and a lively outflow into a stream which heads westwards, back towards the church.

A very peaceful spot. Just a shame about the modern domestic water apparatus next to the well.

St Julian's Well (Ludlow)

Date Added: 9th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Shropshire)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Access 5

Log Text: St Julian's Well, Ludlow: Last stop of the day before collecting our car from the garage and driving back to the holiday cottage, then home tomorrow. The well was deep in dappled shade, it being late afternoon on a hot, sunny day. We parked just south west of the well, at the side of Livesey Road. This road was busy with other cars, presumably because of all the roadworks in the area, routing cars along past the well.

A very odd spot for the well, and the tree next to it had grown over part of the well structure. Someone had wedged a drinks cannister into what had been the pipe from inside the well house, which now appeared to be dry. We couldn't see any obvious channels for water to flow down, and we were unable to hear any water flowing anywhere in the vicinity.

Worth stopping off to take a few photographs, and another well site to tick off the list.

Crossfoot Farm Standing Stone

Trip No.169  Entry No.5  Date Added: 9th Aug 2021
Site Type: Standing Stone (Menhir) Country: Wales (Powys)
Visited: Couldn't find on 15th Jul 2021. My rating: Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Crossfoot Farm Standing Stone: We tried to find this stone, and even hopped across the gate into the field which the OS map shows it in, but no standing stone was visible.

The field is next to a building site and it looks as if the field was being used to store both materials and rubble, making the field very difficult to walk across.

We think the stone now may have fallen, and may be in an area of unmown grass, so is not visible from the highly chained and padlocked gate into the field.

Hall Well (Tissington)

Trip No.170  Entry No.1  Date Added: 11th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Derbyshire)
Visited: Yes on 15th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Hall Well, Tissington: We have been to Tissington before, on a Well Dressing weekend, a long, long time ago (about 38 years!), but because of the sheer number of visitors and really only interested in seeing the church, we took a quick look around only. This time, we walked round to see the wells in their 'ordinary' state. There was a large number of visitors again, but no-one else seemed particularly interested in the wells. It being a very, very hot and humid day, we were grateful for the cafe being open, although the queues to get ice-cream from the traditional sweet shop were horrendous, so we gave up.

I picked up a leaflet in the main cafe which showed the location of the wells, which made locating them easy.

A very pleasant village, and well worth visiting. Would have liked to have spent longer.

Yew Tree Well

Trip No.170  Entry No.2  Date Added: 11th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Derbyshire)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Yew Tree Well, Tissington: The second well of the day. We walked down The Street from Hall Well (with the cafe to our right hand side and church to our left), turning left into Narlow Street. This well is almost at the entrance to the Candle Workshop, underneath a tall, but relatively young Yew Tree.

There was water in the well basin, but nothing seemed to be flowing into or out of the well, or along the drainage channel at the front of it, at the time of our visit.

Town Well

Trip No.170  Entry No.3  Date Added: 11th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Derbyshire)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: Town Well, Tissington: Our third well out of the six in the village. From Yew Tree Well, we headed east along The Green, past the pond (which had very cute young ducklings being taught to swim by their parents). The well is just to your left hand side at the far side of the green.

Coffin Well

Trip No.170  Entry No.4  Date Added: 11th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Derbyshire)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 2 Access 5

Log Text: Coffin Well, Tissington: Finding this well was pretty tricky, as even with the leaflet showing the location of all the wells in Tissington, we walked up and down, and down and up a lane called 'The Foot'. Eventually, I realised that whoever was in the cottage had parked their car right across the front of the well, with the front passenger tyre almost in the well itself. I had to do contortions, avoiding the bonnet of the car, to get any photograph at all.

Presumably the main part of the well is behind the garden wall, in the private garden. The gate to the cottage had a sign which said 'no entry' or 'strictly private', and I was reluctant to knock on the front door and seek permission.

Not impressed by the parking, and no sign to say this was the well.

Children's Well

Trip No.170  Entry No.5  Date Added: 12th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Derbyshire)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Children's Well, Tissington: The fifth well we visited in the village, and easy to spot. Not recorded on HE or HERR. The basin within the well head was slightly muddy and dry, but looking over the dry stone wall, there is a boggy area of ground, which is where the water appears to rise, and a stone trough just behind the well head, which was full of water.

Hands Well

Trip No.170  Entry No.6  Date Added: 12th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Derbyshire)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: Hands Well, Tissington: The sixth, and final, well marked on the Tissington village leaflet map, and looked like a large, stone cotton-reel. As we approached it, some people were dipping their hands into the water. There was no flow of water into the basin, although the water appeared fresh and clear.

All Saints (Bradbourne)

Trip No.170  Entry No.7  Date Added: 12th Aug 2021
Site Type: Ancient Cross Country: England (Derbyshire)
Visited: Yes on 16th Jul 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: All Saints, Bradbourne: Our last visit of this holiday. We had a very 'interesting' journey to Bradbourne, as the police had closed off the main road and routed all traffic down some very minor, single track roads, in which traffic was trying to move in both directions, and not succeeding, which was very frustrating.

There is a large parking area outside the church, although the actual entrance to the churchyard was a bit tricky to find, as there were a number of entrances to different driveways, and we ended up walking down one of these by accident.

The first cross is just inside the churchyard, to your right as you enter from the south. The sundial is just a little further to the north-north-east.

We missed the second cross within the churchyard, as we didn't have access to the HE website at the time of our visit, and whilst looking around, thought it was just another grave marker, so I didn't photograph it.

Loved the carving on the door into the south side of the tower.

Whilst there, a couple of other visitors were very keen for us to see the grave of actor Alan Bates ("Who?" I asked, to much disgust on their part), so we did wander round to find it, out of curiosity.

Harpton Round Barrows

Trip No.168  Entry No.2  Date Added: 3rd Aug 2021
Site Type: Round Barrow(s) Country: Wales (Powys)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2021. My rating: Condition 2 Access 4

Log Text: Harpton Round Barrows: Not the most exciting of stops, but interesting, never-the-less. Andrew did try and find the nearby Castle Nimble, but the only access seemed to be through private farmland, and as we didn’t want to trespass, gave up and went onto the more exciting four-poster stone circle.

Four Stones (Powys)

Trip No.168  Entry No.3  Date Added: 3rd Aug 2021
Site Type: Stone Circle Country: Wales (Powys)
Visited: Yes on 14th Aug 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Access 4

Log Text: Four Stones (Powys): Well worth the stop to see this four-poster. We parked at SO 24562 60871, opposite a small, but complicated road junction, where there was plenty of room for tractors and cars to pass, and walked back to the field.

My first reaction was: "Is this the right place?" on walking into the field, because the grass and weeds were so high, but walking towards the stones, the grass around them had been partly mowed, mostly trodden down by other visitors.

Starting at the southern-most stone, I photographed them all from different angles, in an anti-clockwise direction. Didn't spot any cup marks, but then the grass was still pretty tall around the base of each stone.

Crag Well (Bellingham)

Trip No.171  Entry No.3  Date Added: 30th Aug 2021
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Aug 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Crag Well, Bellingham: Not been able to find out anything much about this well, apart from reading a blog which since seems to have disappeared. Is there a tradition of church services being held next to this well, as the blog said? Will keep researching, but a very pretty spot, well worth visiting.

Hetherington (Wark)

Trip No.171  Entry No.2  Date Added: 30th Aug 2021
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Northumberland)
Visited: Yes on 15th Aug 2021. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Hetherington (Wark): Our second visit to this site, the first being on 25th May 2017, but I forgotten all about it! A lovely site, and pleasant to explore on a sunny afternoon. Didn't realise that this site has been excavated twice, once in 1957, and again in 1972-73, so must try and find the excavation reports, if they are available.