St Helen’s Well, Eshton

Description

St Helen’s Well, Eshton MYD3955 (c) YDNPA 2023

Probably an 18th or 19th century well on an old site. The well is one of many in Yorkshire dedicated to St Helen, the British born mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine. There may have been a chapel-of-ease nearby in the Medieval period since a commission relating to the Manor of Flasby was held in 1420 “in capella beate Elene de Eshton”. An adjacent field is called ‘Chapel Field’. The well consists of a curved stone sill over which the water flows at times of flood from a natural spring. Along the sill there were once carved stone heads under the level of the water. Some of the stonework is reputed to have come from the tower of Gargrave parish church when parts fell off two years after its restoration in 1853, The well was threatened in 1969 when the Water Board proposed sinking a bore hole nearby but the plans were eventually refused. There was apparently a tradition of drinking water from the well with sugar added on Sunday evenings in the late 19th century.

Source:

Gill, Harry M (1988) The History of Gargrave. The Ecclesiastical Parish of Gargrave Vol 2. Sheffield: Sheffield City Polytechnic

Wheelan, Edna (1986) ‘Holy Wells in Yorkshire – 3’. www.bath.ac.uk/lispring/sourcearchive/front.htm Date accessed 20/7/04