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Summary

Surviving well house over St. Marys Well dates was built in the 1860s on the site of an erlier well. The ornamental stonework above the door was salvaged from Ringmore Church.

Location

Protected Status

• Listed Building (II) 1392219: ST MARY'S WELL

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX64NE/23
• Old Listed Building Ref (II)

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• CROSS (Altered, XIX - 1850 AD to 1899 AD (Between))
• HOLY WELL (XIX - 1860 AD to 1869 AD (Between))

Full description

Ordnance Survey, 1880-1899, First Edition Ordnance 25 inch map (Cartographic). SDV336179.

Well ('W') marked on 1880s-1890s 25 inch Ordnance Survey map.

Beckerlegge, J. J., 1937, 6th Report of the Plymouth and District Branch, 224 (Article in Serial). SDV339417.

There is said to have been a well house here.

Brown, T., 1957, Holy and Notable Wells of Devon, 214 (Article in Serial). SDV304810.

Bennett, A. C., 1991, St. Mary's Well (Worksheet). SDV339418.

St. Mary's Well is a roadside well, from which the hamlet takes its name. It is built into the eastern bank of county road No 252. It has a stone well-head, measures 5' 10" high and 5' 3" wide. This has an opening, closed by a wooden door, which measures 3' 2" high and 2' wide. The Rev. Hingeston-Randolph described this wellhead as follows: 'The building over St. Mary's Well was erected by my father and is an imitation of one of the old Cornish wells, St. Minver I think The little bit of ornamental stonework which adorns the arch was found under the paving of the church during the restoration of 1861'. Other details: Photograph.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2007, Bigbury (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV339419.

St Mary's Well. Holy Well, 1860s, by Rev F.C. Hingeston-Randolph on side of earlier well. Random rubble with ornamental fragment and dressed granite coping.
Plan: 1.6m wide rectangular building with low door facing west.
Exterior: Well house built directly onto the bedrock and inserted into a substantial west facing scarp denoting one side of a roadway. The well house survives as a small 1.7m high rectangular rubble built structure with pitch roof formed by stone corbelling topped by a substantial triangular granite slab. Carved onto the west facing edge of this slab is a Maltese Cross within a circular panel. The door faces west and incorporates the upper parts of a reused weathered, decorative window fragment above a horizontal lintel.
Interior: The well basin survives as a rock cut cavity in which water from the spring collects.
In common with many wells the early history of St. Mary's Well at Marwell is based on speculation and its antiquity is to some extent derived from the name of the adjacent farm. No specific traditions relating to the well have been documented, but it is known that the surviving well house dates to the latter part of the C19 and was erected by the antiquarian Rev F. C. Hingeston-Randolph to a design based on the well house at St. Minver in Cornwall. The ornamental stonework above the doorway was salvaged from nearby Ringmore Church during its restoration by the Rev. Hingeston-Randolph in the 1860s. The form of the original structure and whether the well had pre-Christian significance or was first established for domestic purposes only is not known, but the rock cut basin is likely to be original.

Watson, A., 2007-2017?, Devon Crosses, 384, (Vol 3), sketch (Un-published). SDV360833.

Saint Mary's Well SX653472
A carved stone cross stands on the apex of the gable end of Saint Mary's Well, Ringmore. A little stone-built well house, probably early 19th century in date. Saint Mary's Well is situated just below Marwell crossroads, on the east side of the road, about one mile north of Ringmore.
Equal armed cross 10.2 by 10.2 centimetres.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2008, Ringmore (List of Blds of Arch or Historic Interest). SDV340604.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments: none recorded

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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