Holy Well (Wolsingham)

Trip No.21  Entry No.4  Date Added: 6th May 2017
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 4th May 2017. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: Holy Well, Wolsingham, County Durham: This was our last stop of the day and to find this, I loaded the map from the Portal page. To the north of the main village, the well is sited just to the west of Holy Well Farm on Holywood Lane.

At first sight, it looks like a very small barn, but looking closer, the golden names of the saints on the metal grill door shine out. The well chamber itself is very dark and gloomy (no light seems to penetrate) and I struggled to photograph it, even with my most powerful flash gun – it was easier to see the stone ledges, the flowers on those ledges and the well pool itself with the naked eye. The well pool was full of water, but the rest of the chamber was dry.

Curious to find out where the spring was that fed the chamber (as the well house is conveniently close to the road), I both leant over the stone wall and walked up the footpath just to the west of the well house. There is a dried up hollow immediately behind, although we’ve not had any rain in this part of the world for weeks, so it’s not surprising it was dry.

Lively Well (Witton-le-Wear)

Trip No.21  Entry No.3  Date Added: 6th May 2017
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 4th May 2017. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Lively Well, Witton-le-Wear, County Durham: Andrew saw this well on the “Ancient, Healing and Holy Wells of County Durham” listing by Laurence Hunt, which formed the basis for today’s ‘well hunt’.

He says “On the banks of the river Wear below the level crossing at Witton le Wear. A footpath leads down from the level crossing. Whether of any great age or repute I was unable to determine, but this named well, consisting of a spring at the head of a small overgrown channel leading to the river Wear, is attractively sited and worth a visit. Its water is far from 'lively', however, being muddy and stagnant”

This is a really beautiful little village. We’ve whizzed up and down the A68 many, many times, but never turned left down to Witton-le-Wear. Well worth a detour! Would like to come again for a wander round. There is even a cross shaft in the church, although this is supposed to be 12th century.

We parked in the layby by the small station, just past the level crossing (as travelling from the A68 through Witton). There was a footpath with a sign to the cricket club immediately opposite, so we walked down this tarmacked path to the cricket pavilion (with its beehives and even a swarm of bees in a basket next to the path). We followed the path down to the gushing, rushing, pebbly River Wear, but decided we’d gone too far.

Spotting another path climbing up a steep bank on the other side of the railway crossing, we headed back across the cricket field, and where this footpath levels off, there is a small bridge over a channel of water at NZ 15059 31172 which seemed to rise out of nowhere. This disappeared under the footpath, not to reappear again (must be channelled into the river at some point). Following this small channel to the west for around 100 metres, there is a fenced off area of reeds and tall grasses, and I think this is where the spring rises (NZ 15023 31152)

Dropping small leaves into the water, we couldn’t determine a flow of water, or even which direction it flowed in – the leaves just sat sedately on the surface of the water.

Getting home, and trying to do some more research on this well, on the OS map of 1857 the well is not marked but the area is called Lively Bank Plantation. There is a small note on Keys to the Past, but the village dates back to Saxon times. I have emailed County Durham HER to find out more, if possible.

North View enclosure

Trip No.21  Entry No.1  Date Added: 5th May 2017
Site Type: Ancient Village or Settlement Country: England (Tyne and Wear)
Visited: Yes on 4th May 2017. My rating: Condition 1 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: North View/Bucks Nook Enclosure, Gateshead: Whilst this site is literally within sight of the eastern end of Prudhoe, to drive to it, we needed to go through Greenside and take the Rockwood Hill/Bradley Fell road until we reached the point where the road divided,travelling south/wout-west towards Guard’s Farm, and north to join Kyo Bog Lane.

We parked at the fork in the road, just west of North View Farm at NZ 11320 61603. The footpath going to this site running south east through a wooded area from NZ 11320 61597 (the stile into the wood is barely visible from the road), where it runs to the west of North Farm to open pasture. The trees bordering the farm were strewn with ‘Dogs run free/keep out signs’, which were quite off-putting. Nevertheless, there was a clear path running up through the wood to a second and third stiles at NZ 11412 61533 and NZ 11418 61531.

Just before this second stile, there is a corner and definite change of slope which runs at an angle to the footpath (which now runs in a narrow between a fence to the north and an old stone wall/hedge line to the south) and, in the field immediately behind the garden of North View Farm (field contains a stable). At the time of our visit, this boundaryfeature was quite clear, due to the difference in the colour of the grass. From here, it was a little difficult to know where the boundary ran. Where it appeared to cross the footpath, there was a clear ‘hump’ in the ground. Where it disappeared into the field, it was difficult to tell where it ran.

Continuing along the footpath several hundred metres, there is a 6ft fence at NZ 11557 61447, with a stile over it, and more ‘dogs run free/keep out’ signs. It is possible to squeeze between the trees at this point and have a closer look at any possible earthworks. There was a difference in colour in the pasture about 10 metres before the hedge-line at the south-eastern corner, but without a definite plan, it was impossible to tell.

I found the Sitelines Tyne & Wear HER 172 record, but despite it saying the monument is scheduled, I’ve been unable to find anything (having done searches on the various names, grid references, postcodes, farm names). I have emailed T&W archives to see if it’s possible to get some more information. The feature is not visible on UK Grid Finder, although it is possible to pick out the northern corner (photographed).

This place has lovely views over the Tyne Valley to the north. It was worth coming here just to see the views back over Prudhoe and Crawcrook.

Ceoppa's Barrow

Trip No.21  Entry No.2  Date Added: 5th May 2017
Site Type: Round Barrow(s) Country: England (Tyne and Wear)
Visited: Yes on 4th May 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Ceoppa's Barrow, Tyne & Wear: From Bucks Nook/North View, we headed off eastwards along Bradley Fell Road, taking the second right ((Kyo Lane), then dog-legging right/left along the Lead Road then down Horsegate Bank to Claython Terrace Road. Pulling in in the small layby next to the forestry track just before Heavygate Farm at NZ 12710 59129 we walked down the farmtrack running immediately to the west of Heavygate Farm.

Walking by the farmyard was an education in old farm equipment – old tractors, dumper trucks, old cars, pumps. The official grid reference for this barrow is NZ12605890, although I found it to be NZ12605890. Surprisingly, this barrow doesn’t seem to be scheduled.

The barrow is located not quite at the top of the hill, which seems to be at Broomfield Farm, but has brilliant views down to the Derwent Valley to the south.

The gates to the fields were wired shut, but we managed to get photographs from opposite the main entrance to the farm and the gates into the field at NZ 12775 58928. There was definite evidence of a surrounding ditch.