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Summary

St Rumon's Medieval holy well to the north of St Rumon's parish church

Location

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1015144: St Rumon's Well, 16m north of church

Other References/Statuses

• National Monuments Record: 34981
• Old DCC SMR Ref: SS72SW/5
• Old SAM Ref: 28602
• Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division: SS72SW3

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• HOLY WELL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD (Between))

Full description

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

Well shown as 'W' on 19th century map at the western end of a track to the north of the Grave Yard.

Binnall, P. B. G., 1940 - 1941, Holy Wells in Devonshire, 125 (Article in Serial). SDV70316.

Pevsner, N., 1952, The Buildings of England: North Devon, 139 (Monograph). SDV336196.

Remains of holy well north of the church. It is reached by stone steps.

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

St Rumon's holy well used for baptisms.

Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division, 1970 - 1971, SS72SW3 (Ordnance Survey Archaeology Division Card). SDV345043.

St Rumon's Well comprises a stone well house 2 metres square which was recently restored. A plain entrance with a wood door is on the west side. Inside are three submerged steps in water about 2 metres deep. The water is used for baptisms in the church. No part of the structure has any Medieval decorative work but it is fairly certain to be of Medieval origin.

Cherry, B. + Pevsner, N., 1989, The Buildings of England: Devon, 703 (Monograph). SDV325629.

Gerrard, S., 1995, 139544 (Un-published). SDV345044.

Baptismal stone lined holy well housed within a small stone built rectangular building. Description as in Scheduling document.

Department of Environment, 1997, St Rumon's Well, 16m north of Church (Schedule Document). SDV345042.

This monument includes a baptismal stone-lined holy well housed within a small stone built rectangular building, with steps leading both to the entrance and into the well itself. The monument lies 16.05 metres north of the church, just beyond the northern periphery of the churchyard boundary at Romansleigh, and at the end of a public footpath into the village. The building which covers the well is rectangular in shape and measures 2.28 metres long by 2.1 metres wide and is 1.21 metres high. It is stone built and covered with large capstones. The entrance to the well is on the western side of the building and measures 0.91 metres wide. Access is via a footpath which leads right around the building and has some steps leading into the well itself. The well is stone lined, has a diameter of 1 metre and still contains water. The well was reconsecrated to enable baptism of local children in living memory. It is dedicated to St Rumon. There are no traces of Medieval decorative stonework, and the building was thought to have been partly restored during the mid 20th century, but it is of Medieval origin. The well is surrounded to the south, west and north by land boundaries. To the south is the churchyard bank 0.75 metres wide by 1.25 metres high. Some slippage has occurred onto the southern part of the building from this bank, since the churchyard bank is higher than the well building. To the west, the boundary marks the western edge of the footpath to the well entrance. It is 0.75 metres wide and up to 1.1 metres high. This bank curves around to the north where it maintains its width but decreases in height to 0.7 metres. The path surrounding the well is 1 metre wide; it leads from the well entrance to a hollow way on its eastern side which measures 1.7 metres wide and up to 1.1 metres deep. This leads into the village of Romansleigh, and represents the part remains of a much longer trackway from local farms to the village. Although there is now an entrance into the churchyard from this path, just east of the well building, this is a recent addition.

National Monuments Record, 2010, 34981 (National Monuments Record Database). SDV345045.

Ordnance Survey, 2010, MasterMap (Cartographic). SDV344030.

'Holy Well' shown on modern mapping to the north of St Rumon's parish church.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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