St Winifred's Well, Woolston is a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

and wellhouse located within the hamlet of Woolston,

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. It has been a

Grade II* listed 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, H ...

building since 1952.

Legend

According to local legend, a spring appeared on this spot when the body of St Winifred was rested here in 1138. Her relics were being transported from Gwytherin in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Shrewsbury Abbey The Abbey Church of the Holy Cross (commonly known as Shrewsbury Abbey) is an ancient foundation in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, England. The Abbey was founded in 1083 as a Benedictine monastery by the Normans, Norman Earl of Shre ...

, and they were placed here whilst the monks who were transporting them rested. In

William Caxton William Caxton () was an English merchant, diplomat and writer. He is thought to be the first person to introduce a printing press into Kingdom of England, England in 1476, and as a Printer (publishing), printer to be the first English retailer ...

's ''The Lyf of the Holy Blessid Vyrgyn Saynt Wenefryde'', published in 1483, it is recorded that the monks decided to rest and wash the bones, and a spring of water gushed forth, about 10 miles from Shrewsbury. This is likely to be the earliest reference to the St Winifred's Well in Woolston. The spring became well known by pilgrims for healing serious injuries, such as broken bones. In John Mirk's book '' Festial'', he describes two miraculous events in which pilgrims were healed by "þe watyr þat Saynt Wenefryd bonys wer waschyn yn". Another spring, lower down, was said to be good for healing eyes. Occasionally, pebbles covered in red spots that resemble blood stains are found in the water; pilgrims attributed the "bloodstains" to the story of St Winifred's decapitation. In truth, the red stains are caused by a certain type of algae that grows in the well. William Caxton describes this phenomenon in his book: "the stones that lie and rest in that water been besprint as it were with drops of blood".

History

St Winifred's Well has been a pilgrimage destination since at least the 12th century. The building of the current structure, in the early 16th century, was funded by

Lady Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort ( ; 31 May 1443 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late 15th century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first House of Tudor, Tudor monarch. She was also a second cousin o ...

, who also rebuilt St Winefride's Well in Holywell. The well's dedication to St Winifred was first recorded in 1837, but, almost definitely, this reflects a much older

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

Early history

The timber-framed building that sits above part of the well has been dated by

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of chronological dating, dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed in a tree. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, ...

to 1485. For many years, the building's origins have been disputed. In 1886, a local historian named Adolphus Dovaston argued that the building above the well had been built as a court house, and that the building's medieval trusses had been taken from St Michael's Church, West Felton. However, a Survey of the Lordship of Oswestry from 1602 describes the building as "Woolston Chapel", and the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British architectural conservation, building conservation charitable organization, charity, founded in 1965 by John Smith (Conservative politician), Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or ...

say that this makes it almost certain that the structure originated as a religious building. When the Trust began to restore the wellhouse in 1990, they found evidence that the building had been built for ecclesiastical purposes: The Landmark Trust disagree that the building's medieval trusses have been re-used from West Felton's church: they said, during restoration, that "it became clear that the two main trusses, with their cusped struts, were not reused from somewhere else. They fitted their position and the rest of the timber frame very happily."

Post-Reformation

The Landmark Trust's survey of the building revealed that, early on in its history, the wellhouse had suffered a period of neglect; this may have been due to the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

, during which shrines such as St Winifred's were outlawed. However, the discovery of 16th century

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

inside the wellhouse indicates that the well continued to be venerated despite the crackdowns. During the 17th century, the well became a public bathing place. There were several ale houses nearby, which likely contributed to unruly and chaotic gatherings at the well; this possibly annoyed local landowners, causing them to suppress the use of the well by the public in about 1755. At some point during the 17th century, the building above the well became a court house, before being converted into a simple cottage in 1824. It came into the ownership of the Landmark Trust in 1987, who rent the building out for holidays.

Gallery

File:Bathing pool at St Winifred's Well, Woolston.jpg, The main bathing pool, viewed from under the wellhouse File:St Winifrid's Well, Woolston 01.jpg, The three bathing pools File:St Winifrid's Shrine, Woolston.jpg, A niche for a statue, above the well

References

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