A walk to Lady Eglinton's Well, located on the Wentworth Estate, Yorkshire

A short video about Lady Eglinton's Well, located on the Wentworth Estate.

After Sir Thomas Wentworth's death in 1675 his wife, Lady Wentworth, had the life tenancy of Bretton Hall.

In 1679 she was styled as Countess of Eglinton after her marriage to Alexander Montgomerie, Earl of Eglinton.

This well is a wonderful example of the extravagant treatment of the interesting features on the estate, contained within a stone hut built into the rock face adjacent to the quarry entrance.

Between the 17th and 19th centuries, there was extensive stone quarrying on the estate. Bretton Hall and many of its features are built from local stone from this quarry, known as Dam Head Quarry.

The stone columns that surround the doorway of the well support a simple entablature and tablet that reads

‘This well was built by the Right Honourable Grace Countess of Eglinton widow of Sir Thomas Wentworth',

The tablet is dated 1685 and was placed there by the Lady herself.

Above the square tablet lived a sculpted limestone owl, which no longer remains.

The spring was fed out under the doorway to a small pool and to the front of the well are the remains of a trough which would have contained water.

Wells were an important source of water for the estate and this was Lady Eglinton's gift to the local people.