In John Crook's 'The Architectural Setting of the Cult of Saints in the
Early Christian West c.300-c.1200' (OUP, Oxford, 2000), p. 228, is a
cross-section diagram showing the (shaft) well beneath Winchester Cathedral.
The high altar is almost directly above the well, and both relate to the
'holy hole' into which pilgrims could crawl to experience the vibes from the
relics installed behind the high altar. This arrangement seems to date
(according to Crook) from the 1150s.
Christine B.
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