St Cuthbert's Well (County Durham)

Trip No.20  Entry No.2  Date Added: 1st May 2017
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 30th Apr 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 2 Access 4

Log Text: St. Cuthbert's Well, Durham: We had difficulty in locating this well from the 6 digit grid reference, so I've updated it with the official 10 digit reference from Pastscape.

From the Galilee Well, we took the steps/sloping path down to the riverside, then walked up and down, down and up, past the Old Fulling Mill to Prebend Bridge and back. Mystified by the grid reference, I stood with my phone looking up notes on the internet, trying to get a better grid reference. We knew it was near some steep steps, thanks to the entry by kiwiBetsy, but had difficulty locating the exact site. We must have looked so lost that two passing students heading to the Boat House asked us where we were looking for, but couldn't help, shrugged and walked off!

In the end, husband Andrew ran back up the footpath towards the city and spotted this structure half way up the hillside. There are two sets of steps to it – one almost from the path running next to the river (although these are now so overgrown that the path has disappeared in places); the second set of steps runs from the well structure back up to the cathedral.

There was a flow of water, but a trickle. Against the side of the footpath there was a second well structure, perhaps tapping the water so people who couldn’t make it up the steps could get water.

St Mary's Well, Durham City

Trip No.20  Entry No.4  Date Added: 1st May 2017
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 30th Apr 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 3 Access 4

Log Text: St. Mary's Well, Durham: From St. Cuthbert’s Well we walked past the Old Fulling Mill and the Boat House, across Prebend’s Bridge, were we heard shrieks from the river below. Peering over the bridge, we saw the lady rowers trying to avoid going into the bank!

St. Mary’s Well is easy to find. Immediately to the western end of Prebend’s Bridge there is a footpath running off to your right. St. Mary’s Well is about 20 yards to the north up the footpath, on the western side.

Couldn’t find any entry on this in Pastscape, although again Laurence Hunt's Ancient, Healing and Holy Wells gave us some information, along with SolarMegalith's entry on the Portal.

Old Fulling Mill Museum of Archaeology

Trip No.20  Entry No.3  Date Added: 1st May 2017
Site Type: Museum Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 30th Apr 2017. My rating: Condition 3 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Old Fulling Mill, Durham: Now closed to the public. All exhibits have been transferred to the University of Durham Museum of Archaeology at Palace Green.

We walked up and down, then down and up, this lovely riverside path, directly underneath Durham Cathedral and the Castle, looking for St. Cuthbert's well. It is in a really lovely spot, although very close to the river, but as the signboard said, must have been prone to flooding.

Having read in the Portal entry that this museum contained examples of rock art, I was keen to visit, but the sign firmly said the museum was now closed. The University of Durham now have an on-line resource, but would love to go and pay a visit. At this time on a Sunday afternoon, it would have been closed, so a repeat visit will be necessary, but as it's such a beautiful location, and not far from home, this will not be too much of a hardship!

Galilee Well

Trip No.20  Entry No.1  Date Added: 1st May 2017
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Yes on 30th Apr 2017. My rating: Condition 4 Ambience 4 Access 4

Log Text: Galilee Well, Durham Cathedral: We arrived at the Cathedral only to find large marquees on the lawn outside, lots and lots of heavy duty cable laid neatly across the lawn. The west walls had been cordoned off with iron railing with filming equipment piled behind.

We decided to go to the café for tea and a sandwich then asked the guides at the desk where the well was and if we could access it. The lady who replied told us “there’s a really big event on at the cathedral; it’s only just been put on the web site. Even we aren’t allowed to go down there.” Helpful.

I remembered years ago walking up to the cathedral from the bridge on Silver Street, an old entrance tucked between two buildings, labelled the old Pilgrims Way up to the cathedral. We walked down into the town, found the entrance and followed the steps up the hill only to find out the path has been blocked off part way through. Retracing our steps, we found the riverside footpath which runs between Café Rouge and Geek Squad/9 altars café on the southern side of the river, at NZ 27282 42419. This path, high above the river, leads directly to the bottom of the west walls and the Galilee Well.

There is no information on this well on Pastscape, or in the cathedral notes for the Gaililee Chapel which must be immediately the other side of these enormous walls.
As the footpath is relatively narrow and has a steep drop down to the river Wear below, it was interesting to get a full face on photograph. The drop from the well into the water below is at least a couple of metres. There was no water flow at the time of our visit. Whilst standing on the path, I noticed a shelf of flat stones poking out of the bank very slightly. Whilst looking back up at the well from St. Cuthbert’s Well below, I noticed what looked like a cast iron bowl poking out of the sheer cliff. Is this associated with the Galilee Well? A pretty inaccessible place!

There is some information on the wells in Durham on the 'Ancient, Healing and Holy Wells of County Durham' by Laurence Hunt which we found useful in giving directions and information.

St. Oswald's Well

Trip No.20  Entry No.5  Date Added: 1st May 2017
Site Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring Country: England (County Durham)
Visited: Couldn't find on 30th Apr 2017

Log Text: St. Oswald's Well, Durham: From St. Mary’s Well, we headed off along the footpath by the side of the river, on the outer bank of the river Wear as it curves south and east around the cathedral. It is a very pretty path, although with quite a steep drop on the river side at times. We were amused by the ladies rowing on the river who went into the bank once or twice!

Reaching the outer walls of Hatfield College, we climbed some steps onto a path leading us onto Anchorage Terrace and followed the road north towards St. Oswald’s Church. The grid reference as given showed the well to be in the vicinity of the school. After much walking around St. Oswald’s churchyard, I eventually pulled up the description from the Ancient, Healing and Holy Wells of County Durham by Laurence Hunt, which told us that the well was “Situated just below the footpath leading from St Oswald's churchyard to Prebend's Bridge. Reached down a narrow, steep footpath about 20 yards after entering the trees below the church tower.”

Following our steps back to the tower, there is indeed about 20 metres through some trees back to the footpath. Just to our left there was a small, very overgrown track leading down what (to me) looked like a death-defying drop down the cliff to the river below.

Husband Andrew, being intrepid and with absolutely no fear of heights, swung himself onto the footpath, clung onto a tree and leaned over. He said he could see the well. I closed my eyes.

After a few minutes he reported that about 3 metres of the footpath appeared to have slipped down the slope and was missing, and he could reach the well but would like a rope!

We aborted the visit, sadly.