Castle Well

HER Number

38

District

Sunderland

Site Name

Castle Well

Place

Bishopwearmouth

Map Sheet

NZ35NE

Class

Water Supply and Drainage

Site Type: Broad

Water Storage Site

Site Type: Specific

Well

General Period

UNCERTAIN

Specific Period

Uncertain

Form of Evidence

Documentary Evidence

Description

A well of excellent water from which the shipping was supplied, formerly known by the name of the Castle Well, is said to have been located near the dock and staith of Lord Durham. Lord Durham's dock and staith may refer to the Lambton Drops on the R. Wear (see Ordnance Survey 6 inches plan of 1862), and that being the case, 'Castle Well' would have been situated in a low lying grassy area on the south bank of the River Wear at the bottom of a deep gorge known as the 'Galley's Gill'. No trace of a well is known at this position.

Easting

439300

Northing

557400

Grid Reference

NZ439300557400

Sources

<< HER 38 >> E. Mackenzie & M.Ross, 1834, A Historical View of...Durham, Vol. I, p. 275 n
W.C. Mitchell, 1919, History of Sunderland, p. 19
Ordnance Survey archaeological record cards, ISS, 1978, 'Castle Well' (site of)...