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The concept of the ‘holy well’ or sacred healing spring dates back to
Celtic times and before. As an important centre London had a number
of ‘holy wells’ most of which, sadly, have long since disappeared.
These pages are devoted to the spirits of water
(undines) and to providing some up to date information about these sites. This is
part of ongoing research and will be added to from time to time.
There are more than twenty holy wells or sacred
springs connected with London. You can see the location and some
information on all of these wells if you use Google Earth programme.
To download Google Earth you need a broadband dial
up connection. Please click here
to download the file. Then
email
me for a Google Earth file with the wells included. A sample of
information is given below.
Holywell Aldwych (TQ 3087 8102)
This ‘holy well’ is at present located in the basement of Australia
House in the Aldwych, Strand, and can only be accessed via a manhole
cover. At least it still exists and the water looks clean and
wholesome. Saving only the ubiquitous plastic cup - shame!
The present holy well |
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Map showing position of the holy well, in
Holywell Street, before the building of the Aldwych.(Click image to enlarge) |
A possible first mentioned
of the well was by William FitzStephen (ca 1174/1183)a medieval monk who wrote:
“There are
also in the northern suburbs of London springs of high quality, with
water that is sweet, wholesome, clear, and "whose runnels ripple
amid pebbles bright". Among which Holywell, Clerkenwell and St.
Clement's Well have a particular reputation; they receive throngs of
visitors and are especially frequented by students and young men of
the city, who head out on summer evenings to take the [country?] air. Truly, a good
city –
if it has a good lord.”
However he could also have been referring to the 'holy well'
in Shoreditch (see below). This could also be true of John Stow’s (1525 – 1603) London survey dated to 1598 where he states:
“Holywell is much decayed and spoiled, with filthiness purposely laid there
for the heightening of the ground for garden plots.”
When John Stryp edited the Stow survey in 1720, correcting what he thought were inaccuracies he states:
“Holywell
is in a place which is first called Holywell-Street; tho' better
known at the present by the name of the Back-Side of St. Clement's.”
It is clear then that there is some confusion as to which
'holy-well' is indicated. That Stow later goes on to refer to the
well of Dame Annis-the-Clear as being north of holywell strongly
suggests that he was alluding to the Shoreditch well and not the one
in the Strand.
The site of the well is shown on the Ordnance Survey sheet of 1894
(see insert above) and has been confirmed by inspection.
St Clement’s Well, Strand (TQ 3096 8109)
The site of this well is to be found in the west gardens of the Royal Courts
of Justice in the Strand. A map dating to 1879 suggests a
location in the centre of the West Gardens car park.
Of the well Stow states:
“The fountain called Saint Clements Well, north from the parish
church of Saint Clements, and near unto an Inn of Chancerie, called
Clement’s Inne, is yet fair and curbed square with hard stone and is
always kept clean for common use. It is always full and never wanted
water.”
The well is shown as “site of” on the Ordnance Survey sheet of 1894 but
no evidence survives today excepting perhaps a leaking drain.
The location of St Clement's Well
Sadler’s Well, Rosebery Street, (TQ3145 8283)
The story of the well as it appears in the Sadler’s Well theatre is as
follows:
*In June 1683 Dick Sadler, surveyor to the King, built a Musick-House
near a country footpath leading from Clerkenwell to Islington. By
chance, earlier that summer he had discovered a medieval well in the
grounds of his house. Believing the waters to have miraculous
medicinal powers, people flocked to Sadler’s Wells to enjoy musical
entertainment and to stroll in the gardens and take the water.”
The
well can still be seen today and has been incorporated into the new
Sadler’s Wells Theatre.
The Sadler's Well
Holywell, Holywell Lane, EC2 (TQ3315 8224)
This is another of London’s holy well that has long since
disappeared under housing or road development. It is mentioned in John Noorthouck's History of London published in 1773 as follows:
“In the parish are two prebends, and part of a third, belonging to St
Paul’s cathedral, in the city of London: The first dominated by Eald-Street,
or Old Street, received that appellation from the Saxons being part
of the Roman military way: the second, which had been a separate
village for many years, by the name of Hochestone, vulgarly Hoxton,
likewise itself to be of a Saxon origin: the third called Haliwell,
had its name from a vicinal fountain, which, for the salubrity of
its water, had the epithet Holy conferred on it.
In King John’s Court, Holywell-lane, are to be found the ruins of the
priory of St. John Baptist, of Benedictine nuns, founded by Robert
the son of Gelranni, prependary of Haliwell, and confirmed by
charter of Richard I in the year1189. It was rebuilt in the reign of
Henry VII by Sir Thomas Lovell, knight of the garter; who was there
buried: and the following ditty was in consequence painted in most
of the windows.
“All the nuns of Holywell,
“Pray for the soul of Thomas Lovell.”
In his London survey John Stow’s (1525 – 1603) states:
“Holywell
is much decayed and spoiled, with filthiness purposely laid there
for the heightening of the ground for garden plots.”
This suggests that the well was in a more rural area
at the time which fits with it being associated with the orchard area
of the old Priory. A possible location is shown below based on John
Rocque's 1747 map, where a circular structure is shown (highlighted in
blue). However Chassereau's plan of Shoreditch in 1745 shows the well
more to the west approximately in the position of the well shown in
the conjectural plan below. If Rocque is right then the location of
the well would be just to the west of the railway arches of Bateman's
Row (see picture below).
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| Detail from John
Rocque's 1747 map showing the probable position of holy well
marked in blue and a picture of the present location. |
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| A conjectural
plan of the Priory of St John the Baptist taken from Besant's
survey of London published in 1906 shows two positions for the well.
The first in the Great Court and the second in the Convent
orchard. |
St Bride’s Well, Fleet Street, EC4 (TQ 3151 8110)
This well was located close to the south-east corner of the present
church. St Bride’s is one of the oldest of the London churches and
probably built upon an ancient shrine dedicated to the Celtic
goddess Bridget. The well has disappeared under a modern
house/office extension but evidence suggests that it was still
providing water in the 19th Century. A beautiful specimen
of one of London’s Plane trees lies close to the spot of the well,
which we might suppose connects to its healing energies.
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Location of the well |
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The Plane tree at St. Brides close to the spot of the holy well. |
Clerk’s Well, Farringdon Lane, EC4 (TQ3145 8212)
Mentioned by Fitzstephen as early as 1174, the
Clerk's Well was the scene of medieval miracle plays performed by
the Parish Clerks of London, and gave its name to the district of
Clerkenwell. Until the reformation, the well was located in the
boundary wall of St Mary's Nunnery. After the dissolution of the
nunnery and the destruction of its boundary wall, the well was
located in the basement of a building in Ray Street (now Farringdon
Lane). In 1800 a pump was placed at pavement level to facilitate
public use but by the middle of the 19th century the well had been
closed. The exact location of this important site was uncertain but
was rediscovered in 1924, during building work in Farringdon Lane.
After renovation in 1984, the Clerk's Well now has an accompanying
exhibition outlining the history of the well and its environment.
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The present well, which can be visited by calling the Islington
Local History Centre 020-7527-7988 |
Agas
plan of Clerkenwell (1558) showing the church. The well can just
be made out spouting from a fountain in the west wall into a
trough. |
Other Wells
- St. Agnes Well- Kensington Gardens (TQ 2671 8068)
- I can find very little mention of this well,
excepting the naming of St Agnes Villas on the other side of the
Bayswater Road to be found on the 1830 Greenwood map of London. The
well is situated close to the pump house facing the Italian Gardens
and is marked by a small square metal cover.
- St Govor's Well - Kensington Gardens (TQ 2611 7987)
- The inscription written around the well states:
"This drinking fountain marks the site of an ancient spring, which
in 1856 was named St Govor's Well by the First Commissioner of Works
later to become Lord Llandover. Saint Govor, a sixth century hermit,
was the patron saint of a church in Llandover which had eight wells
in its churchyard." The well is mentioned in a story by J.M.Barrie
the author of Peter Pan.
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| Site of St. Agnes Well - Kensington Gardens |
Site of St. Govor's Well - Kensington Gardens |
- St. Agnes Well - Old Street (TQ33074 82557)
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Of the well Stowe writes in 1603
"Somewhat north
from Holy-Well is one other well, curbed square with stone and is
called Dame Annis the Clear and not far from it, but somewhat west
is also another clear water called Perilous Pond. "
By the time of Rocques Map in 1746 the name Dame Annis the Clear had changed to St
Agnes Le Clare as evidenced by the name that later became
associated with the Old Street roundabout. The indication from Stowe's description suggests that the well was located towards the eastern end of Old Street and the
name St Agnes Le Clare (on Rocques Map) indicates the approximate position
of the well, which almost certainly would now be found to the rear
of the Foundry public house building in Old Street (see plan).
- Bagnigge Wells - King's Cross Road (TQ 3089 8259)
- There were two springs at Bagnigge wells, which became a very fashionable spa in the 18th century. The original site of the spa, Bagnigge House, was claimed to have been owned by Nell Gwynne the mistress of Charles II. In the rear garden ran the Fleet river, known as the river of "wells" because of the number of wells associated with it. Two wells were originally sunk around 1757 and had chalybeate properties. The wells became a very popular resort
for taking "the waters" and for tea drinking, where the fashionable of London were wont to gather. Tea drinking eventually fell out of fashion and the spa fell into decline the site being sold off in the mid 19th century. A plaque of a man's head in the wall between 63 and 65 King's Cross Road now marks the position of the garden entrance to the spa, which originally extended to the junction of Pakenham Street.
- Black Mary Well - Farringdon Road (TQ 3101 8254)
- There are different suggestions for the origin of
this strange name. Perhaps the most plausible is that the well was
once owned by the Benedictine nuns of St Mary's, Clerkenwell. They
were called black nuns because of the colour of their habit and thus
the well could have belonged to 'Black Mary's'. The well is close to
but quite separate from the Bagnigge wells. Its position now lies on a small piece of garden in front of some Council flats at the junction of Lloyd Bakery Street and Margery Street, although all trace has disappeared. The last reference to it in Cromwell's History of Clerkenwell stated:
- "Beneath the front garden of a house in Spring Place and extending under the froot pavement almost to the Pantheon Gate lies the capacious receptacle of a mineral spring, which in former times was in considerable repute, both as a chalybeate, and for its supposed efficacy in the cure of sore eyes. When Spring Place was erected (c. 1815) the builder ..converted the receptacle beneath into a cesspool for the drainage of his houses. "
- St Blaise's Well - Bromley
(TQ 4080 6911)
- A chalybeate spring in the grounds of the Bishop
of Rochester's Palace. This well still exists as a pump that feeds
the adjoining lake.
- Caesar's Well - Wimbledon (TQ 2236 7151)
- The well is part of an issuing spring that lies
close to Caesar's camp on Wimbledon Common
- St Chad's Well - St Chad's Place (TQ 3050 8295)
- A once well known medicinal well that disappeared with the development of the Metropolitan railway line. St Chad's Well is thought to be of very ancient origin,
and was one of the most important of the many wells in London.
- Kilburn Well - Kilburn High Street (TQ 2546 8368)
- Close to the site of the old Kilburn Priory. Now
under the site of a health food shop. A plaque in the wall of the shop honours the site of the well as does a more recent pavement plaque.
- Lady Well - Ladywell Road, Lewisham
(TQ 3774 7486)
- The Lady Well was close to Ladywell Road, west of the river
Ravensbourne. It had probably been a holy well dedicated, like the
nearby church, to St Mary the Virgin. The first known record of it
dates from1592. It supplied water to the nearby dwellings until the
building of a sewer in Ladywell Road in 1855 caused it to run dry.
- St Pancras Well - St Pancras (TQ 2991 8345)
- The exact site of this well has been hard to determine,
excepting that it lay to the south and reasonably close to the old
St Pancras church. It resided in the garden of the house probably
immediately to the south of the churchyard known as Thornley Place
(see map). It was described for its healing properties 'in the
greatest perfection and highly recommended by the most eminent
physicians in the Kingdom'. It now, almost certainly, lies under the new railway development of St. Pancras station.
- Powis Well - Guildford Street (TQ 3034 8210)
- Shown on Rocques 1747 map. It lies at the rear of
the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital. A nearby street is
named after the well.
- Rhode's Well - Rhodeswell Road (TQ 3651 8163)
- Shown on Rocques Map and Fairburn's map 1801 but
positions' vary. Probably accurately shown on Harwood's map, which
is now close to Rhodeswell Road.
- Shepherd's Well - Fitzjohn's Avenue, Hampstead (TQ 2662 8524)
- Shown on George Cruchley's 1835 map. Shepherd's well, also known as The Conduit, provided a source of good quality soft drinking water for the residents of Hampstead. The walk to the nearest road meant that well carriers sold water by the pail or two pails because of the yoke needed for carrying the water. The spring never froze and only vary rarely ran dry.
For information on the London's "leys" see:
London's Leys
Other complementary information:
Devas
Water The Essence of
Life - Channelling
© David Furlong 2006
return to top of page |
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These wells can be viewed on
Google Earth.
- Click here
for more information on the Google Earth programme.
Click here to be emailed Google Earth file of the wells.
Holy Well Research
Those interested in research of 'Holy Wells' or a discussion group of their origins please click here for the link to National Wells Index (NWI) forum.
Photos and plans:
St Clements Well on a 1647 plan.
Painting of Bagnigge House c. 1757
The Bagnigge Wells Spa on 1830 map
The Bagnigge Wells sign at present set on building between 63 and 65 Kings Cross Road.
St Chad's Well from a London article dated to 1896
OS sheet 1874 shown the position of St. Agnes Well, Old Street.
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