Recent messages on the list make me reflect on some
of my longstanding assumptions regarding dedications of wells to saints (and
similar names). I've tended not to question them, but is this legitimate
as more information has come to light?
My first assumption is that there were once rather
more saints' wells in England than they are now. This is based on two
observations. First, that wells are indeed often numerous in some English towns
where a particular antiquarian took a special interest in them or where the
records are good (Stamford, for instance, we have six or seven depending whether
you interpret Poule Well as 'St Paul's', or Durham, with four or five), implying
that the numbers we know about are more a matter of the accidents of
historiography rather than the real situation; and secondly, lots of wells seem
to have lost their saints' names after the Reformation. There are plenty of
English examples, and in France saints' wells seem to be more numerous
even in rural parishes (eg the four in the parish of Saintines in l'Oise, quoted
by M Roblin).
My second assumption is the linkage between
the dedication of the local church and that of the well. Clearly this does hold
in many places, but in Buckinghamshire I found only one (St Firmin, North
Crawley) and Surrey looks like producing no more than a couple too.
Thoughts and reflections, ladies and
gentlemen?
James
