Thread: WINWICK...St. Oswalds Well

nanna · 29-01-2006, 10:44 AM

WINWICK: ST. OSWALD'S WELL.

This well is about half a mile from St. Oswald's Church, Winwick, and three miles from Warrington.

In common with the one bearing the same name at Oswestry, it is said to mark the spot where St. Oswald fell when defending his kingdom against the attack of the fire-eating old tyrant, Penda, King of the Mercians. It is at Woodhead, near Winwick, situated in a field [85] on the Hermitage Farm, within a few yards of the lane, and presents a very modest appearance for so famous a spot, looking merely like a hole in the hill-side. Passing through a small cottage-garden, a well-trodden path leads to the well. The water is not very bright, but the well is substantially walled inside, and two or three deeply-worn steps lead to the water. On a recent visit a number of beautiful ferns were growing inside from the corners and sides of the slabs which cover in the water. Some of the stone-work thus used is grooved and carved in a manner which shows that at some period the well was protected, and by a handsome and substantial erection; but most of this was taken away many years ago, the existing rustic protection having been fixed up about twenty years ago by the present tenant of Hermitage Farm. Baines, in his History, speaks of Winwick as the true scene of Oswald's death, and urges in favour that Bede describes the well as being formed by the carrying away of earth by the people, thus making a deep hole, which was formed into a well, whilst the well at Oswestry is a clear sparkling spring. Not only was the earth carried away by pious people after his death, but for ages since, and even up to the present day the water has had ascribed to it wondrous healing powers, though to the irreverent mind it is very ordinary water to look at. By our reverential but superstitious forefathers the water was carried great distances and administered as a medicine in case of disease; and Bede relates several miracles which he had been informed were worked in the vicinity, and by earth or water taken from the well. At the present day there are people who use the water as a cure for sore eyes ; and if not used at the present time, certainly within the last twenty years it was used in the surrounding Catholic chapels. The 'Abbot's House' and 'Hermitage,' and other names, and the fact that at one time there was a considerable ecclesiastical establishment in the vicinity, sufficiently indicate the reverence in which our Catholic forefathers held the spot.

Pauline (aka Nanna)

29-01-2006, 10:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
nanna Ancestry Aid Staff Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Liverpool, Merseyside.U.K Posts: 11,524 Total Awards: 3	WINWICK...St. Oswalds Well *WINWICK: ST. OSWALD'S WELL. This well is about half a mile from St. Oswald's Church, Winwick, and three miles from* *Warrington.* In common with the one bearing the same name at Oswestry, it is said to mark the spot where St. Oswald fell when defending his kingdom against the attack of the fire-eating old tyrant, Penda, King of the Mercians. It is at Woodhead, near Winwick, situated in a field [85] on the Hermitage Farm, within a few yards of the lane, and presents a very modest appearance for so famous a spot, looking merely like a hole in the hill-side. Passing through a small cottage-garden, a well-trodden path leads to the well. The water is not very bright, but the well is substantially walled inside, and two or three deeply-worn steps lead to the water. On a recent visit a number of beautiful ferns were growing inside from the corners and sides of the slabs which cover in the water. Some of the stone-work thus used is grooved and carved in a manner which shows that at some period the well was protected, and by a handsome and substantial erection; but most of this was taken away many years ago, the existing rustic protection having been fixed up about twenty years ago by the present tenant of Hermitage Farm. Baines, in his History, speaks of Winwick as the true scene of Oswald's death, and urges in favour that Bede describes the well as being formed by the carrying away of earth by the people, thus making a deep hole, which was formed into a well, whilst the well at Oswestry is a clear sparkling spring. Not only was the earth carried away by pious people after his death, but for ages since, and even up to the present day the water has had ascribed to it wondrous healing powers, though to the irreverent mind it is very ordinary water to look at. By our reverential but superstitious forefathers the water was carried great distances and administered as a medicine in case of disease; and Bede relates several miracles which he had been informed were worked in the vicinity, and by earth or water taken from the well. At the present day there are people who use the water as a cure for sore eyes ; and if not used at the present time, certainly within the last twenty years it was used in the surrounding Catholic chapels. The 'Abbot's House' and 'Hermitage,' and other names, and the fact that at one time there was a considerable ecclesiastical establishment in the vicinity, sufficiently indicate the reverence in which our Catholic forefathers held the spot. Pauline (aka Nanna)