St Cuthbert's Church and Well, Bellingham

Patron saint of Northumbria and honoured by a mighty cathedral at Durham, St Cuthbert is more quietly remembered at this smallest of pilgrimage sites

Highlights

• Holy well found by St Cuthbert

St Cuthbert has a quaint little well on a leafy path below Bellingham’s parish church. He uncovered it by ingenuity rather than miracle, dousing for a source of fresh water while visiting the area. It is still used for baptism. The story is recorded in the 12th century by Reginald of Durham. The spring is also known as Cuddy’s Well, a nickname for the saint in northern England. The design of its little stone cap also has a regional nickname, a pant.

When you have finished at the well, take a look in the 13th-century parish church. Its roof is a monumentally heavy construction, made entirely out of stone slabs in the 17th century. Apparently, the local people got so fed up with rebuilding the wooden roof after it twice burned down, they installed the most fireproof alternative possible. The sort of single-minded determination only a frustrated churchwarden could muster.

Directions‍

St Cuthbert’s Church

B6320, Bellingham NE48 2JP‍

Church Website‍

W3W: flirts.ferried.belief

GPS: 55.1429N 2.2560W (well)

3W: warp.office.train

GPS: 55.1435N 2.2563W (church)‍

The holy well is next to the churchyard. As you approach the church along the main village road, there is a footpath on the left that starts between the Black Bull Hotel and the village hall. Follow the path down some steps for 60m, running alongside the churchyard wall, and the well is easy to spot beside the path. The church was unlocked when I visited.