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St Aldhelm's Well in
Doulting Doulting is a village and civil parish east of Shepton Mallet, on the A361, in the county of Somerset, England. History The parish of Doulting was part of the Whitstone Hundred. The parish includes the village of Bodden, which was founded ...
,
Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...
, England, is an ancient spring which is the source of the
River Sheppey The River Sheppey has its source in a group of springs west of the village of Doulting, near Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. It flows through the wetlands to the north of the Polden Hills and ultimately joins the River Brue. Route Fr ...
. The site is a Grade II
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
, although it is a medieval site, most of what remains has been rebuilt. The well was named after St Aldhelm after he died in Doulting village in 709, some accounts say on the day of his death he sat by the well singing psalms before being carried up to the church in the village where he died. The Church of St Aldhelm in Doulting was dedicated to Aldhelm in the 8th century.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 222 Folklore has attributed healing powers to the spring water in which pilgrims were known to have bathed, the well is still visited by people who use the water and leave flowers and other offerings of reverence. The spring has never been known to fail, even in times of drought. Water flows through two low pointed arches in a stone wall in the hillside, along a
bathing Bathing is the immersion of the body, wholly or partially, usually in water, but often in another medium such as hot air. It is most commonly practised as part of personal cleansing, and less frequently for relaxation or as a leisure activity. ...
pool with stone sides and collapsed stone walls on each side. The carved masonry which can be seen around the site indicates the bathing pool would have once had a roof over it. The water passes through a wall to fill a stone drinking trough in the lane below, pouring over the trough's edge into a grate in the floor. The water passes under the lane into a confluence with a group of springs to the west of Doulting to become the
River Sheppey The River Sheppey has its source in a group of springs west of the village of Doulting, near Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. It flows through the wetlands to the north of the Polden Hills and ultimately joins the River Brue. Route Fr ...
, which ultimately joins the
River Brue The River Brue originates in the parish of Brewham in Somerset, England, and reaches the sea some west at Burnham-on-Sea. It originally took a different route from Glastonbury to the sea, but this was changed by Glastonbury Abbey in the twelfth ...
. Next to the well is a chamber containing the remains of a
waterwheel A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous blade ...
which once pumped water up the hill to supply drinking water for Doulting village, a well head built in the late 19th century still stands in the village featuring a wrought-iron pump handle. The well head is also a Grade II listed building.


References

{{reflist Mendip District Brue catchment
Aldhelm Aldhelm (, ; 25 May 709), Abbot of Malmesbury Abbey, Bishop of Sherborne, and a writer and scholar of Latin poetry, was born before the middle of the 7th century. He is said to have been the son of Kenten, who was of the royal house of Wessex ...