Newcastle, Sevenwellheads

HER Number:
1430

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Newcastle, Sevenwellheads

Place:
Newcastle

Map Sheet:
NZ26SW

Class:
Water Supply and Drainage

Site Type: Broad:
Water Storage Site

Site Type: Specific:
Well

General Period:
Medieval

Specific Period:
C13

Form of Evidence:
Documentary Evidence

Description:
In 1225/1226, before the town was walled, Henry III granted to the Friars Minor a conduit for water from their well called "Sevenwellheads". As the name suggests, the well was formed "by an aggregation of streams", and the friars claimed they also had the power to enclose the well with stone and mortar, and lock it up. This led to trouble, in the 1340s, with the townsfolk who broke the pipes and diverted the water. As the water pipe was located "near the town wall in the cemetery of St. Andrew", and "near Newgate", the well was presumably on the north-west side of the town. The conduit led from the well "along the high street" to the friary, and there is a hint in a document of 1348 that the residents of both Pilgrim Street and Market (Newgate) Street had an interest in the pipe.

Easting:
24

Northing:
64

Grid Reference:
NZ2464

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
<< HER 1430 >> Cal Pat R, 1340-1343, 351 Cal Inq Misc, II, 1307-49, no. 1900 Cal Pat R, 1343-45, 412, 496 Cal Pat R, 1348-50, 214-15