Holy Well Spring

Holy Well Spring from which the local area name of Halliwell comes. This spring was reported as ‘rediscovered after being lost for many years’ but as kids we’d always known where it was. Behind the old Brytallium foundry, Nobody asked us… The title on the stone reads “Holy-Well Spring recovered August 18th. 1849.” and probably refers to the brick archwork which can be seen in the tunnel. Medicinal or healing properties have been ascribed to the spring waters in local folklore.

Although Holy Well Spring is well documented, little is heard of the accompanying Holy Well that was once situated on the corner of the Moss Bank Park boundary and shown on the first edition OS map as “Holy Well” but Holy Well Spring is not. Later maps do show the Holy Well Spring and “site of Holy Well”. I have often imagined the tunnel from which the spring emerges might lead to the base of the old Holy Well that is on significantly higher ground.

Two stone angels once flanked the mouth of the tunnel next to Holy Well Spring - one remains in place and the second is said to be hidden nearby for preservation.

In 2008 we decided to crawl into Holy Well Spring. It was very cramped and very damp with water dripping and sometimes pouring in from between the loose brickwork of the ceiling. The floor is uneven with much debris and an old iron pipe which makes crawling painful. We went quite a way but probably only half the distance to where the old Holy Well is shown on the map. It seemed very dangerous and the structure of the tunnel crumbling and unsafe - don’t go in.

The tunnel continues for a surprising distance, deep under a hillside North of Bolton, the direction of the tunnel as it meanders slightly is generally congruent with the direction of the former well above ground. The restricting height of the tunnel and water and deposits of sand and rock on the floor make progress difficult. We reached a point where the floor was deeply deposited making the tunnel even smaller. A large volume of water seemed to be entering through the walls and ceiling.

Created: 27  November  2016  Edited: 29  November  2023