| Catalogue Finding Number | WYHER/1960 |
| Office record is held at | Historical Environment Record, West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service |
| Held Outside WYAS | THE RECORD DESCRIBED IS HELD AND ADMINISTERED BY THE WEST YORKSHIRE HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT RECORD PLEASE CONTACT THEM ON 0113 535 0157 IF YOU WISH TO MAKE AN APPOINTMENT TO VIEW THIS RECORD |
| Title | St Helen's Well, Chapel Wood |
| Description | St Helen's Well. First recorded on an estate map of 1817. It is located at the side of the probable line of Roman Road 280 (the Rudgate PRN 3192) 150 m. north of St Helen's Ford (PRN 3191) and directly across the River Wharfe from Newton Kyme Roman Fort (N.Yorks). The site of the well is within an area of woodland known as Chapel Wood (Walton A 1817 E.A. map field no. 228A WYAS LF/118/9, field book 194); elsewhere within the wood Leland locates a pre Reformation chapel also dedicated to St Helen.
Bogg mentions slight evidence of foundations, but does not give any indication of their precise location. Whitaker illustrates fragments of a sculptured Pre Conquest cross (PRN 7253) discovered in the undergrowth near the well; now in West Harton church (according to Collingwood, YAJ 1914 15).
As recently as the 1930's, and possibly later, St Helen's Well was still used as a rag well by local people. The site is now threatened by the Thorp Arch Trading Estate, but in 1981 the spring was still in existence (Smith, 1981). WYAS field visit in 1984 revealed that the well is presently filled in or at least choked with rubbish, and also recorded the presence of major earthworks around the well. WYAS field visit 1990 encountered nearly impenetrable undergrowth not much else visible on site as a result; well not positively located this visit. |
| Date | 20th century |
| Extent | contact the West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service for information on what is available |
| Level | Item |