St. Helen's Well (Newbiggin-on-Lune)

Trip No.6  Entry No.2  Date Added: 14th Feb 2017
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 11th Sep 2016. My rating: Condition 2 Ambience 3 Access 5

Log Text: St Helen's Well, Newbeggin-on-Lune, Cumbria: After seeing the Loki Stone at Kirby Steven, we followed the A685 south and west to Newbeggin-on-lune. St Helen’s Well is about 50 metres to the north of the A685 (called Fell Lane at this point). It sits almost at the junction where Chapel Butt Lane splits into two. There is parking for about three cars at this junction.

We initially took the left hand fork, walking down to where a footpath sign pointed right over the field containing the well, just before a field gate. Climbing the small stile, walking over the footbridge, we were confused as to where the well was. We understood this well was supposed to be the source of the River Lune, but there are small streams which run to the north/north east which carried a strong flow of water (there must have been a large amount of rain here recently, as the ground was incredibly boggy with large puddles across the paths, as opposed to being dry where we live). Wading through the puddles through the field gate, there was a large boggy area (complete with bull) which appeared to be the lowest point in the area, and the source of the water flow.

Retracing our steps, we asked a local lady who was walking her dog. Despite having visited this area for 34 years, she hadn’t heard of this well. Walking down the right hand lane, the well can be found by walking down the right hand side of Chapel Butt Lane (heading towards Friar Bottom Lane), with the pool becoming visible just after the first bend.

Hollin Stump Cairn

Trip No.6  Entry No.4  Date Added: 2nd Oct 2016
Site Type: Cairn Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 11th Sep 2016. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 3

Log Text: Hollin Stump Cairn, Gaythorp Plain, Cumbria: From St Helen's Well at Great Asby, we headed south south west, following the single track road to ASby Winderwath Common, were the metalled carriageway turned west across Gaythorne Plain. We parked by the cattle grid on opposite Linglow Hill, where a dog walker had taken up much of the dry parking area and was waiting for his 2 lively terriers to wear themselves out tearing across the grass.


We hadn’t spotted a gateway into the field containing Hollin Stump Cairn from the road, so followed the bridlepath south. There was a gate into the field about a quarter mile from the road, but there was a herd of large cows (and a bull) surrounding the cairn, so we only go to view this from a distance.


We carried along the bridlwway to find the Gaythorn Plain Ring Cairn/Stone Row (not sure we found it, need to process the photos). The latter was visit 7/5 (not yet logged).

St Helen's Well (Great Asby)

Trip No.6  Entry No.3  Date Added: 2nd Oct 2016
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (Cumbria)
Visited: Yes on 11th Sep 2016. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 5

Log Text: St Helen's Well, Great Asby, Cumbria: This was our third stop of the day. From (confusingly) St Helen’s Well at Newbeggin-on-Lune, we took a right hand turn back onto the A685 then the next turn right taking the minor road between Crosby Garrett Fell and Ravenstone Moor. Turning right at the T-junction at Middle Bank, we followed the road through Little Asby to Great Asby. We parked next to the little alms cottage about 20 metres to the north west of this well. At first, all I could see was a modern stone wall with some horribly concrete shapes on it’s top, with the Asby Beck beyond. Walking towards the modern stone wall, a huge rush of water could be seen running into the beck, coming from no apart source—just straight out of the ground.

The well itself has a square pool into which water emerges. As we watched, the flow of water was sufficient to move the sand forming the base. Most intriguing.

With a village this old, we decided to investigate the local church, St. Peter’s. The modern building is of no great age, although the ‘short account’ of the church says that the site may have been used from the 7th century onwards (as Peter was a common dedication from this time on).

The Pastscape record for this well says this well "was formerly seated round and of great repute for the medicinal properties of its waters. Consists of a deep pool, approximately 4.0m square, contained by a stone wall, with a drain-off channel at its eastern corner. It is not apparent whether the pool is fed by a natural spring or a piped supply, as the point of issue is below water level. A modern wall partially surrounds the well. "