St Winefride’s Well, Woolston

This spring has attracted pilgrimage since the 12th century, a gem of ancient devotion still used for medieval-style bathing rituals, and now on the St Winefride Pilgrim Trail‍

Highlights

• ‍‍Holy well of St Winefride

If all holy pools looked as appealing as St Winefride’s Well, sacred bathing might come back into fashion. And yet, even Woolston’s deep stone chambers can only be admired from a footpath. The picturesque medieval wellhouse has been converted into a tiny holiday cottage.

The spring appeared where the saint’s body was rested in 1138 during the translation of her relics from Gwytherin in Wales to Shrewsbury. Most holy wells are associated with minor complaints, such as sore eyes. This one, however, has a reputation for healing serious injuries, including broken bones. It is still visited by pilgrims and used by the Orthodox church on occasions, with the water accessible if not entirely suitable for immersion.

The chamber directly underneath the half-timbered cottage is the original medieval bathing pool, reached through a little doorway beneath the building, which you can peer through. There is a niche above the chamber that no doubt held a statue of the saint. The lower bathing chambers are 19th century and look in good condition—though their outflows would need to be plugged before filling to a bathing depth.

The structure is a useful reminder that holy wells often needed ancillary buildings—the house a suitable place for drying, dressing, and resting. It is sometimes called a well chapel, though there is no evidence it saw liturgical use. It has been dated to the late 15th century and was put to a variety of secular uses after the Reformation.

The wellhouse is available to rent for short and week-long holidays, perhaps the holiest place to stay in Britain. Renovated by the Landmark Trust, which lovingly returns ancient properties to public use, the cottage has just one bedroom. It would appeal to adventurous types: the cottage has a separate bathroom in a little outbuilding on the other side of the footpath. Not quite as rustic or cold as the facilities enjoyed by medieval pilgrims.

St Winefride is especially blessed among well patrons. Both this site and her pool at Holywell, North Wales, are two of very few in Britain with intact wellhouses. The pool at Holywell appeared when St Winefride was beheaded in the 7th century and remains Britain’s most popular holy bathing pool.

Directions

St Winefride’s Well, Woolston SY10 8HY‍

Landmark Trust‍

W3W: tightrope.loss.tells

GPS: 52.8132N 3.0070W‍

‍The well is quite tricky to find. Driving southeast from Maesbury Marsh, the nearest village, turn off into Woolston (the road sign only mentions Sandford and West Felton). After 200m, turn left where the main road bends sharp right. At the end of this lane, there is an unsigned footpath behind a wooden gate on the right. The well is 100m down there.