Eighton Banks, Scot's Well (Hermit's Well)

HER Number:
5137

District:
Gateshead

Site Name:
Eighton Banks, Scot's Well (Hermit's Well)

Place:
Eighton Banks

Map Sheet:
NZ25NE

Class:
Water Supply and Drainage

Site Type: Broad:
Water Storage Site

Site Type: Specific:
Well

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
Stone-built spring head with pitched roof and substantial stone walls attached. Trough into which water ran must be buried. Eighton medieval chapel and hermitage (HER 658 and 9) were situated near to the stream descending from a spring called Scotteswell. In 1387 the land was granted to Robert Lamb, hermit, for the building of the chapel and cell in honour of the Holy Trinity. The chapel and hermitage lay towards the northern end of Eighton vill (HER 661). The spring was obviously in use in the medieval period but the existing stone structure is post medieval in date. The culvert through which the stream would have originally ran probably runs under Rockcliffe Way and into the former quarry site beyond. Water was said to have still flown through the well until the quarry was filled in. LOCAL LIST

Easting:
2754

Northing:
5832

Grid Reference:
NZ27545832

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 5137 >> R. Surtees, 1820, History of ... Durham, II, 215-6 1902, A Short History of Wrekenton and Eighton Banks, p 4 Pers. Comm. D. Reynolds, 2002, Parish Councillor for Lamesley; Gateshead Council Local List X20/LL/205