Hi Paul
A sort-of Rutland example. At Ashwell the so-called Wishing Well at Ashwell
is situated on the edge of the village near a sharp bend in the Oakham road
where the Langham Road turns off (Landranger Ref. 130:874137). In the past
it has been referred to as the Holy Well, and is presumed to be the 'ash
tree well' that gives the village its name.
It has a stone well head (very rare in Leics and Rutland). An inscription
in one stone above the well reads:
All ye who hither come to drink,
Rest not your thoughts below,
Look at that sacred sign and think
Whence living waters flow.
So, no Jacobs at Ashwell!!! However, at nearby Greetham there is a
distinctly Gothic C19 well head with stone surrounds, a substantial and
well-cared for structure although always dry. The cistern at the back
suggests the flow has always been meagre or erratic or possibly that the
structure is fed by piped water.
On one stone is the following inscription:
All ye who hither come to drink
rest not your thoughts below
remember Jacob's Well and think
whence living waters flow.
My guess is that is that the Greetham folk copied the Ashwell well. Note
that the Greetham well is *not* referred to locally as Jacob's Well.
The ref to Jacob's Well presumes widespread knowledge (I assume but have
*not* checked of a Biblical story).
Hope this helps a tad.
Bob
At 18:55 16/01/01 -0000, you wrote:
>I'm giving the finishing touches to a huge book about all the old wells in
>Elmet - an old Yorkshire kingdom - and need assistance with a persistent
>title.
>We have an unduly high number of "Jacob Wells" in the region, most of them
>with little information about them. Does anyone know of other Jacob Wells
>in the UK, with atendant lore? Can anyone help with identifying the nature
>of this localised clump of such wells? If they are not simply named after a
>local chap called Jacob (most don't seem to be), could it relate to Masonic
>stuff, or attached to Paulinus, who travelled through Elmet? Help!
>Paul B.
>
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