St Helen's Well, Oxendon

Dedication: Saint Helen

Location: Oxendon

Coordinates: 52.44924N, -0.92038W

Grid reference: SP734840

Heritage designation: none

This is undoubtedly St Helen's Well, a site about which very little is known. It certainly had an association with the nearby St Helen's Church, from which it probably took its name, and water would probably have been carried from it to the church for baptisms. However, it is not known whether the well had any supposed healing powers, or was associated with any local traditions.

The earliest (and only historical) reference that I have been able to find to St Helen's Well dates from 1712, and can be found in John Morton's Natural History of Northampton-Shire, in which he noted that "Water Graſs with ſmall crooked Pods" grew in "St. Helen's Well at Oxendon". Apart from this brief mention, St Helen's Well has managed to completely escape any form of documentation.

Unlike most "lost" holy wells, the location of St Helen's Well is quite clear. There are very few springs that are marked on Ordnance Survey maps in or around Oxendon, excepting a few that are marked on today's maps but which were not included on any old Ordnance Survey maps, so must be new. As St Helen's Well was clearly used for baptisms (otherwise, it would surely not have attained its name), it must have been located in the vicinity of St Helen's Church. There is only one spring that is marked near to the church on historical Ordnance Survey maps, and it is accessed via a footpath that leads to it from the church. To add to the evidence, this spring once was surrounded by a large stone structure, probably a basin. Unquestionably, this spring is the historic St Helen's Well.

When I visited the site in the March of 2025, the area was boggy, and the remains of part of the stone or possibly brick structure were strewn around the spring. The southern side of this structure survived mostly intact, and there was a good amount of clear water in what I can only presume was once a stone basin. It was, however, very overgrown, and could definitely do with a clear out.

Access:

A public footpath runs right beside the well.