St Oswald's Well

Well ..... following Freespiral's example (just a little bit) I had a look this morning at our nearest holy well.

St Oswald's Well is located in the parish of Winwick (the church is also St Oswald's), and the well is at the hamlet of Hermitage Green. It lies near a pond, in a field just off the A road which passes through. Reading up on the well, the Venerable Bede mentions it and its numerous miracles, which happened after Oswald was killed in a great battle with the pagan Mercians. The well was created by pilgrims digging out the soil and taking it away, according to Bede, who knew a thing or two. It is a scheduled ancient monument, despite its unprepossessing (and semi-derelict) appearance.

No miracle could save the nearby Parkside colliery from closure in 1993, the reclaimed tip of which forms a backdrop to the well. We lived in Newton at the time, where the colliery was always a landmark and clearly visible from the Thelwall viaduct every time we returned home. Anne Scargill led a women's campaign to keep it open, but clearly did not have the same miraculous powers as Oswald. The former colliery remains very much out of bounds, the big concrete pit heads long gone