St Chad's Well, Chadwell

Dedication: Saint Chad

Location: Chadwell

Coordinates: 52.726177N, -2.319283W*

Grid reference: SJ785143*

Heritage designation: none

St Chad's Well is located in the small hamlet of Chadwell. It is relatively obvious that the place-name "Chadwell" is derived from the name of the well, and nearby "Great Chatwell" must be a corruption of this name. Very little is recorded about its early history, although it very likely dates from the time of St Chad (the 7th century). R.C. Hope, in The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England, 1893, does, however, mention the well:

Great and Little Chatwell are two tiny hamlets in the (civil) parish of Gnosall, Staffordshire. At Little Chatwell is a well called St. Chad's, approached by old stone steps, the water of which is of very good quality and highly thought of for tea-making.

Local legend has it that St Chad himself consecrated the well, and that actually may not be so far-fetched as it at first sounds. St Chad, the bishop of Lichfield (the site of yet another of his holy wells), spent much time in the 7th century travelling around the area preaching. It is often said that an early saint's travels can be tracked by observing the locations of the churches that are dedicated to them, and this saying proves true. In this case, there is a church dedicated to St Chad only seven miles away in Brewood; he is in fact thought to have founded this church, along with several others in the surrounding area. Almost certainly, St Chad would have preached in the area around Chadwell, if not in the hamlet itself.

Despite this, as with all wells dedicated to St Chad, the authenticity of its dedication has been called into question. Too often, a "chadwell" is actually a corruption of the name "cold well", which is likely the case in places that were outside of St Chad's sphere of influence. However, on this occasion, it seems much more likely that St Chad himself does have a direct link to the well, simply because he is known to have travelled in that area.

Chadwell mill, a now disused watermill that is located less than a mile from the well, once used water from St Chad's Well.

Today, the well feeds a large roadside pond. During the Victorian era, or possibly at some point during the early 20th century, a pump-house was built next to the well, and the stream that flowed from the spring was dammed to create this large pond. Little remains of the pump-house, apart from the pump, which, according to the local farmer, is no longer in use. There is in fact some uncertainty about where exactly the original well is or, rather, was. Possibly a more likely candidate for the original location of the well is a large stone trough that can be found buried under weeds at the far west side of the pool, from which the pond seems to get its water. Unlike the brick pump-house and dam, the stone trough looks very old and could possibly be of Medieval origins. At the time of visiting (November 2024), it was just visible through the nettles. The main image is of this trough.

An Ordnance Survey map from the early 20th century; the well is no longer marked on maps today	The remains of the pump-house
The road next to the well	Part of the later dam and weir

Access:

The well is located at the side of a quiet road.