In the centre of a large field between Brigg and Wrawby stands a sturdily-built structure.
Far beneath is a well from which the original fresh water supply was pumped to the town in Victorian times.
St Helen's field dates back to the enclosures of farmland and possibly before that when strip cultivation was still undertaken.
A report in the Hull (Lincolnshire) Times newspaper in 1928 mentioned the St Helen's bore being "abandoned" and said Brigg was to seek a new site.
Four years later there was talk of a £10,000 water supply scheme for the town.
Reference was made in 1936 to the Brigg water main extensions.
By 1937 a £20,000 sewage scheme was needed.
There was considerable concern about the cost of both schemes.
Indeed, in 1938 a newspaper report appeared entitled "Trouble at Brigg Council meetings over sewer repair costs."
Today's sewage works is situated off Atherton Way and Redcombe Lane, while our clean water is drawn from boreholes on the Wolds.
It's all a far cry from those decades in the 19th century when the Town Drain - little more than an open sewer - ran roughly along the route now occupied by part of the A18 on Barnard Avenue.
Its "contents" belonged to the local government board (before we got an urban district council in the 1990s) and were sold to farmers to be spread on the fields to "enrich" them.
Brigg's water came from the Ancholme for centuries.
Communal pumps were provided, later using the fresh and safe St Helen's supply.
This was good news, as cases of typhoid were still reported in Brigg well into the 19th century.
Two of these pumps survive - on Grammar School Road and adjoining the County Bridge - though they haven't been in use for a considerable time.
Someone has written a detailed history of St Helen's well, which is very interesting and well worth a read.
Read it through this link...
Please note that the building is on someone's land.
Anyone interested in leaving the public footpath between Brigg and Wrawby to take a closer look is strongly advised to contact the Wrawby farm to seek permission in advance.
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4 comments:
Yes and no, Nige...
Initially the St Helen's gravity fed water, supplying tanks beneath the town pumps did reduce typoid/cholera about the town....but circa at the cusp of C19th/20th, these tanks became infected with sewage and the water actually contributed to a outbreak og typhoid/cholera at the time.
Some folks used bore holes, while the Edwardian houses in Wrawby Rd had pumps in their sculleries to pump water from wells, which was supplied by run-off from their roofs.
the footpath used to go to the well until it was rerouted the well can easily be got to by going on tractor tracks be careful as damaging crops is a criminal offence
...not certain whether the Ancholme has really been a source of fresh water, Nige..We could use that phrase, Water, Water Everywhere,but Not a Drop to Drink'..
Before they reclaimed/drained the Ancholme Valley, the vale was tidal..'a natural shallow inlet in the Humber.', so the water would have been salty- brine.
After the river was deepened and dykes built...the river around Brigg was the depository for sewage....they even drained blood, other liquids and offal straight into the Ancholme from the slaughter-houses down the Mumbles...later called the Butchery, then Elwes St.
Fortunately, the water table is high around Brigg and it doesn't take much deep digging to come to fresh water.
Villages, such as the Low Villages are conveniently sited near natural springs..fresh water issuing out of the Wild limestone.
Redbourne...the name suggests that it's doing was in, or near a bed of reeds.
Red= reeds and Bourne = Spring.
Redcombe Lane in Brigg....name suggests that historically it could have been a track in, or near reeds in a shallow valley (combe/ cwm (Welsh)/comb)
...However, while some names in Brigg give a clue to the past, be careful as names of roads were changed in about 1865 by Brigg Board...for example, Nicholson Yard became Coney By, and dispute the popular notion that Coney Ct was the centre of Briggs rabbit trade, there's no actual evidece to support this theory...it's a bit like saying both Churchill and Kennedy must have met in Brigg, because the road/close are close to each other!
.....St Helen's Well is tiled....I hope to be able to take a photo of this Victorian oddity...
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