|
|
Dictionary definition: wells
- Article from:
- A Dictionary of English Folklore
- Author:
Copyright© A Dictionary of English Folklore 2000, originally published by Oxford University Press 2000. (Hide copyright information)
|
wells.
Healing or holy wells are rarer in England than in Scotland, Wales, or Ireland; even so, almost 200 are extant, and hundreds more once existed, as indicated on old documents. Those that remain are often regarded as
wishing wells
. They are the latest phase in a long tradition of ritual activity, traceable archaeo-logically through Roman and
Celtic culture
to prehistoric times; its present form was shaped by medieval Catholicism, where wells were often dedicated to a saint—sometimes a local one. Thus, St Oswald's Well at Winwick (Cheshire) reputedly marks the place where he was killed; St Withburga's Well at East Dereham (Norfolk), the place where she was buried; St Chad's Well ...