Historic Well House Restored

Costumed members of the Society and Rev White at the well house
 
On Saturday 22 October 2005 the Society joined the Friends of Falsgrave Park to celebrate the restoration of the historic well house in Falsgrave Park. Members of the Society in medieval costume lead a guided walk following the course of the water supply from Princess Square to the Park. Members of the Friends ‘dressed’ the well which was blessed by Rev Phil White. Brother John (Colin Barnes) read an eulogy.

The present well house – or spring head- is a small stone structure with a stone roof which probably dates from the 18th century. We carried out an excavation here in 2001. The discovery of older stonework next to the well house suggests there was an earlier building on the site. No firm dating evidence was found, but we think it may have been the second ‘Franciscan Spring’ of 1339.

The restored well house
 
The Friends of Falsgrave Park obtained Local Heritage Initiative funding to restore the building. Contractors Historic Building Restoration have provided new ridge stones, replaced masonry, re-pointed the structure and provided a new iron gate. Stone from the quarry at Aislaby near Whitby, which is itself a historic source of building stone, was used. Traditional lime mortar was used for the re-pointing.

The well house dressed for the celebration
 
Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society has been a partner in this project. The excavation team has cleared out the cistern and inlet conduit so that you can now see how water was collected inside the well house before being piped to the town.

Contributed by Chris Hall
Images: Pat Taylor

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