BECKETS WELL, DERBV. 45 



Warrington, the other at Oswestry ; of course we cannot 

 pretend to say which is correct, for these ancient saints had a 

 curious propensity for duality. We will not attempt to explain 

 the mystery ; we know there are the two wells, and that they are 

 both called after St. Oswald. Another well in Wales, at Holywell, the 

 most famous in the three kingdoms, has the name of St. Winifred. 

 A Welsh prince, Caradoc, sought this damsel in marriage. This 

 she would not agree to, so he cut off her head, which rolled 

 down the hill into a church, where St. Beuno was officiating ; and 

 at the place where it rested, in front of the altar, the waters of the 

 holy well began to flow. Whatever its origin, the well is there, 

 and to this day miraculous properties are attributed to its waters, 

 which are sent to different parts of the country in bottles ; some, 

 we have been informed, comes to Derby. St. Beuno appears to 

 have been a skilful surgeon, for it is related that he successfully 

 united her head to her body again, and " she lived in the odour 

 of sanctity fifteen years afterwards." * These two instances are 

 sufficient to show the antiquity of these so-called holy wells. 



It was quite usual, however, to give saintly names to wells 

 which had no miraculous or curative virtues attributed to them ; 

 neither were they always called after saints. One at Allestree was 

 called Capersuch well. Many such will doubtless occur to the 

 reader ; and it would be interesting to have all names of wells in 

 this county, whether holy wells or otherwise, recorded in this 

 Journal, especially now that the urban sanitary authority is doing 

 its best to get rid of all wells, particularly in districts where a 

 water company has established itself. As "Rare Ben Jonson " 

 said, " There's nought so sacred with us, but may find a 

 sacrilegious person." 



We come now to the particular well under consideration, that of 

 St. Thomas Becket at Derby. How or why it received the name of 

 the murdered archbishop we are unable to say. He was murdered 

 on Tuesday, the 29ih December, 11 70. Now there had been 



* Dent's Chap Books, dealing very fully with the history of St. Winifred and 

 Holywell, printed atjout the middle of last century, have just (1889) been 

 reprinted by Mr. Elliot Slock. 



