Holy Well, Houghton-le-Spring

Dedication: Venerable Bede

Location: Houghton-le-Spring

Coordinates: 54.84654N, -1.47235W

Grid reference: NZ339503

Status: destroyed

The famed Venerable Bede was probably born in around 673, possibly in the vicinity of Monkton, the site of his second, and more celebrated, holy well. He first became a monk at the age of seven, in the monastery of Monkwearmouth, but he was, not long after, transferred to a newly built monastery near Monkton, where he spent a considerable amount of time. As Monkton is located only around 7 miles north of Houghton-le-Spring, it is quite possible that Bede did pass through the area on the way south.

According to local legend, Bede drank from this holy well in the year 700, when he travelled through the town. Although this is not completely implausible, it is unlikely that the local inhabitants would have taken any notice of Bede drinking the water. Nonetheless, the story was still well known by the late 19th century, that is, if it indeed is an authentic medieval legend and not a Victorian invention. The well, also, was still in frequent use in the 19th century, by which time it seems that the majority of wells and springs in the area were unfit to drink from. In a Report to the General Borad of Health on a Preliminary Inquiry into the Sewerage, Drainage, and Supply of Water, and the Sanitary Condition of the Inhabitants of the Township of Houghton le Spring by Robert Rawlinson in 1854, a Mr Welford was quoted regarding the "sanitary condition of the town":

There is no water supply worth naming; there are a few private pumps and wells, but many of them are now mere cesspools. There is a well in Newbottle Lane [Bede's Well] which supplies most of the water carts which go round the town, the owner selling the water to the inhabitants, who pay one farthing for a pailful, of about three gallons.

This report was accompanied by a table showing the results of an analysis of Houghton-le-Spring's water supplies; this included the Holy Well:

Unfortunately, nothing apart from the Victorian history of the site is known, although the well almost certainly would have been used by the medieval inhabitants of Houghton-le-Spring for, at the very least, baptisms.

The Holy Well was marked and named on Ordnance Survey maps until 1958, when only the "site of" the well was marked. It is not known what exactly happened to it, but it is quite possible that it too became a "mere cesspool", and was finally filled in.