St Peter's Well, Derby

Dedication: Saint Peter

Location: St Peter's Street

Coordinates: 52.92132, -1.47657*

Grid reference: SK352361*

Status: destroyed/capped?

Although it is not known for certain when exactly Derby's church of St Peter was founded, one certainly existed within the city by 1086: according to the fourth volume of J. Charles Cox's Notes on the Churches of Derbyshire (1879), "St. Peter's Church" was then "recorded in the Domesday Book". St Peter's Well, which was located on St Peter's Street, not far from this church, was undoubtedly connected to it, and it seems very likely that the well gained its name because it was almost certainly the church water supply, and used for baptisms.

Unfortunately, very little is recorded about the history of the spring itself; nevertheless, the earliest reference that I have found to its existence dates from 1529, when, if part two of Stephen Glover's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of the County of Derby (1829) is to be believed, "Robert Liversage granted and confirmed to William Collyer, clerk, vicar of the parish of St. Peter's Derby, Roger Smith, and six others" a "tenement" situated "near St. Peter's Well". Of course, it is not absolutely certain that Glover was quoting directly from the medieval document, as he may have just been paraphrasing it, but the original document evidently mentioned the well, as it is the only point of reference given for the tenement's location. This is important for two reasons: firstly, it proves that St Peter's Well was in existence during the late medieval period, and, secondly, it shows that the spring was then well-known enough to be used as a reference point in a legal document.

Despite its clear medieval local importance, by the late 19th century only local memory of it remained. In 1888, George Bailey wrote in Becket's Well, Derby (an article published in the Journal of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society) that St Peter's Well was "now filled up", and only offered a brief description of its location: "near the church". Nonetheless, six years earlier, in 1882, the same Journal had published another piece entitled Jottings about Old Derby, written by the Rev. William Hope. Hope was the vicar of St Peter's Church, and reported that the parish vicarage had originally "stood in S. Peter's Street", before being replaced by "the premises of Messrs. Dick, Wilkins, etc.", after he sold it and moved to a more convenient location. As part of his description of the original vicarage building, Hope mentioned a "stream of pure clean water" that had issued through the "capacious cellarage", in "the direction of Old S. Peter's Well". Although he did not detail any traditions that may have been associated with the spring, he did specify that it was "still under the pavement near Mr. Peach's premises in S. Peter's Street".

Unfortunately, no spring or watersource of any kind has ever been depicted on St Peter's Street on any historic Ordnance Survey maps, or on the Standidge & Co. 1852 map of Derby, so St Peter's Well must have been covered over or, as George Bailey attested, "filled up", by the 1850s. Of course, the fact that the parish vicar was still aware of its original location suggests that its destruction had not occurred too long beforehand, as it had not been forgotten. However, despite the fact that the holy well has never been shown on OS maps, it is still possible to determine its location.

Kelly's Directory of Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland, and Nottinghamshire, published in 1891, includes a reference (under "Derby") to "Peach Joseph & George, jewellers", at number "10 St. Peter's street", and "Peach J. & Sons, fishing tackle manufacturers" at the same address. The Directory does not list any other businesses under the name of "Peach" on St Peter's Street, and this is definitely the "premises" that Hope was referring to. Although historic OS maps from the time of the Directory do not show the street numbers of each building, the 1951 OS map of Derby does place number 10 at SK3529036118, on the west side of the street; this is confirmed as the correct location by the Directory listing, which states that Mr Peach's premises were found on the "west side" of the road. Clearly, St Peter's Well was located beneath the pavement, in front of this building. The main image for this page (above) is of the 1951 OS map, with the arrow pointing to number 10.

Today, it is not clear what exactly survives of St Peter's Well, but the roadway has certainly been re-paved since the 1880s, and it is unlikely that the spring still exists beneath the tarmac.