Holy Well (destroyed): OS Grid Reference – TQ 102 952
Archaeology & History
A long lost sacred site (not to be confused with the nearby Bright Well) that has given its name to the district of Holywell. It also gave its name to an early farmstead; and to the place-name of Holywellane recorded as far back 1485. It was also described as a “Holy Well” in a local vestry book in 1698. Nothing more seems to be known of the place.
References:
- Gover, J.E.B., Mawer, Allen & Stenton, F.M., The Place-Names of Hertfordshire, Cambridge University Press 1938.
- Harte, Jeremy, English Holy Wells – volume 2, Heart of Albion press: Wymeswold 2008.
© Paul Bennett, The Northern Antiquarian