wideford wrote:
Ah, maps are rum beggars. What go down as wells are two things, wellheads and wellsprings. Former always artificial, second anything from a slight natural upswell to a thrusting spring (sometimes actually distinguished by the legend wellspring, any one such not consistently over time even then). Also these latter can vary in strength over the centuries e.g. the Well(s) of Kildinguie and presumably Brodgar's Fairy Well. Old maps may miss wells of either kind or else lead you to look for a wellhead where a (sometimes seasonal) simple wellspring evades detection.
Thanks Wideford, I think your first post 'time machine' hit the spot. I didn't get to see Brodgar's Fairy Well when I made my whirlwind tour last year but I hope to be back next year - in mooching around mode.My first great love where wells are concerned will always be the the famous Chalice Well at Glastonbury which I believe is constructed as a stone chamber and very obviously revered by pre-Christianised people.
The Salt-Hole in north Wiltshire, which I mentioned in my first post, came into prominence in Victorian times but was renowned for its healing properties by local people for ?? some time before. The area is still mostly farmland so its history is written only in the land which unlike other parts of Wiltshire is quite flat and boggy (at this time of year).
