A splendid summary, Bob.
James Rattue
Rector, St John's Parish Church, Farncombe
Church website farncombe.org.uk. Find us on Facebook:
facebook.com/stjohnschurchfarncombe
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-----Original Message-----
From: Wells and Spas - The email discussion list for Holy Wells.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Bob Trubshaw
Sent: 13 March 2013 15:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: EH definition (was Re: Holy Well newsletter help)
An off-list exchange of emails with Rik has got me thinking. If we think of
holy wells from an archaeological perspective then - as he has been
asserting - they must have some 'material culture' (most probably, but not
necessarily, a structure of some kind).
However the term 'holy well' was not invented by archaeologists, still less
by English Heritage experts. From its origins in the early Christian era
clearly much has changed (not least successive post-Reformation ideologies).
The term evolves over the centuries as specific water sources are denoted as
'holy wells' for a variety of reasons - indeed, in recent centuries some of
these reasons may be somewhat spurious. I can only refer folk to Jeremy
Harte's extended discussion of what is - and is not - a holy well in his
'English Holy Wells' (apologies for plugging a book wot I published, but
this is a rather small pond. ).
In essence, holy wells are a cultural phenomena (crucially, more than just a
linguistic concept). Out of all the very many known water sources a
relatively small proportion are dedicated to saints or otherwise denoted as
holy. There *may* be tangible reasons for a specific well being so denoted
- never drying up in drought, being good for eyes, etc - but as these are as
much commonplace folkloric tropes as tangible attributes, in the final
analysis the concept of a holy well falls under the rubric of ever-shifting
social construction.
This is not to say that 'social constructs' stand apart from archaeology -
clearly they don't. But I'm now more sympathetic to Rik, who is evidently
finding it very frustrating that his material culture perspective is not
going down too well among list members who don't accept that holy wells can
be wholly or neatly contained within that perspective ;-)
Rik is happy that the EH definition of a holy well is good enough for EH's
purposes. But I can fully empathise with those on this list who don't
consider it as fit-for-purpose in the social construct commonly referred to
as 'the real world'.
Bob
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Bob Trubshaw
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