St Winifred's Well

Woolston, near Oswestry

Overview

This tiny building is a miraculous survival, a medieval well chapel. It is built above an ancient and venerated spring that feeds three linked pools, and that is still flowing today.

  • Dogs AllowedDogs Allowed
  • Bed in Living RoomBed in Living Room
  • Fire or StoveFire or Stove
  • Open SpaceOpen Space
  • Parking AvailableParking Available
  • Bath with ShowerBath with Shower

Beds 1 Double

Sleeps
2
4 nights from
£220 equivalent to £27.50 per person, per night

The cult of a 7th-century Welsh princess

Earlier inhabitants and pilgrims no doubt washed in the spring, but today we have constructed a detached bathroom a few yards from the former chapel. St Winifred was a 7th-century Welsh princess, sworn to a life of chastity, who was brought back to life by her uncle St Beuno. Legend has it that she had been decapitated by an angry suitor as she ran away to take refuge in a church. In the 12th century her body was taken to Shrewsbury Abbey, where many pilgrims came to benefit from her healing miracles. St Winifred was much loved by people in this area, so there is good reason to believe the tradition that this well at Woolston was dedicated to her; a lesser sister to the older and more famous St Winifred’s Well at Holywell in Flintshire. Whether or not any of this is true, the well here has been venerated for centuries, and is still visited by pilgrims and Landmarkers today.

Secluded and special

The innermost of the three pools is the medieval well chamber. The little building above is the medieval well chapel, itself a remarkable survival preserved since the Reformation as a Court House and then as a cottage. Meanwhile, the well itself was enlarged to form a cold bath (your own hot, more private bath is a stone’s throw from the cottage), first for a local squire, and later for the people of the area. Their behaviour became so riotous that it was closed to the general public in 1755. After that it returned to nature, whose spirit was probably worshipped here long before Christianity. It is on the edge of a hamlet and hard to find (and sometimes harder to heat), approachable only by public footpath, which takes you in the direction of a fragment of the old Shropshire Union Canal. Once here, secluded in the woods, acceptance of the miraculous is easy.

Floor Plan

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Map & local info

St Winifred’s Well is tucked away in a secluded spot in the woods in the hamlet of Woolston. Nearby Oswestry is a thriving market town, close to the Welsh border. The town has a heritage railways museum and stages lots of events like the annual food, music and literary festivals. 

Visit the beautiful, medieval Powis Castle with its world-famous gardens, overhung with clipped yews that shelter rare and tender plants.

The Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway provides a welcome change to the rush of everyday life. 

Take a stroll by the Montgomery Canal and around the Llyn Coed Y Dinas Nature Reserve to enjoy the peace and tranquility of this rural area. Head out along Offa's Dyke Path, which follows the English/Welsh border and enjoy the changing landscapes and wildlife to be seen there. Close by is Chirk Castle.

If you fancy exploring your surroundings on bicycle, you can get in touch with A Mere Cycle, a bike hire company that can deliver a bicycle directly to St. Winifred's Well. 

Take a look at our Pinterest Map for things to see and do during your stay at St Winifred's Well.

Discover local walks for dogs with our friends at Walkiees.co.uk, the dog walks community.

Please Note: The Landmark Trust does not take any responsibility and makes no warranties, representations or undertakings about the content of any website accessed by hypertext link. Links should not be taken as an endorsement of any kind. The Landmark Trust has no control over the availability of the linked pages.

Clear directions
Essential info
What you need to know about this building
  • Yes. You are welcome to bring up to two dogs. A charge of £20 per stay is made for each dog.

    Please contact booking enquiries if you have an assistance dog, for which there is no charge.
  • On foot from the parking area (approximately 90m).
  • Gobowen – 6 miles.
  • There is one parking space approximately 90m away at the top of the public path.
  • There are electric night storage heaters and a solid fuel stove.
  • Fuel may be purchased and delivered under a private arrangement. Further details will be provided with your booking confirmation.
  • To check up-to-date mobile network coverage in the area, visit signalchecker.co.uk.* Due to the location and structure of many of our buildings, signal strength may differ to those indicated.
    * Links to other sites are provided for information purposes only.  We do not endorse any such websites and we are not responsible for the information, material, products or services contained on or accessible through those websites.  Your access and use of such websites remains solely at your own risk.  For further information, visit our website terms of use.
  • The majority of properties do not offer WiFi but many now have mobile coverage. Facilities in some properties rely on WiFi to function and we are currently piloting guest use of WiFi at a few of our buildings. We are going to extend the pilot across more properties and review customer feedback in 2025.
  • The kitchen is fully equipped with all plates, cutlery, fridge etc.
    There is also an electric cooker.

  • There is one bathroom with a bath about 10m from the main building.
  • There are no difficult internal stairs.
  • There is a garden (not enclosed). Please note the unfenced pond.
    There is a public footpath which passes between the main building and the bathroom.
  • Yes, the path to the bathroom can get dark, cold and slippery in the winter.
  • Yes, the bathroom is a few feet from the main building across a public footpath.
Booking and Payment
  • If the weather is bad, please contact our booking office who will be able to tell you whether the Landmark is accessible. If the housekeeper can safely get to the building to prepare it then we consider that it is open and available for guests. However if we cannot undertake a changeover then we will do our utmost to transfer your stay to another Landmark, depending on what we have available. It may not be of a similar size or in the same part of the country as your original booking. If the building is accessible but the customer cannot travel due to poor weather in his/her local area then please be aware that Landmark will not provide a refund. However the customer may be able to claim on his/her own travel insurance. We recommend that all guests take out travel insurance when they first secure a booking.
  • We accept Maestro (if issued in the UK), Visa, MasterCard, direct transfer and sterling cheques drawn on a UK bank. Cheques should be made payable to the Landmark Trust except for Lundy stays and boat/helicopter tickets which should be payable to The Lundy Company Ltd. All payments must be in sterling.
  • The key arrangements will be included in the Further Infomation document which will be sent to you prior to your stay.
  • If your stay starts more than two months from the date you make the booking, you are required to pay a deposit of one third of the cost of your stay (or £100 per booking, if greater) at the time of booking. Camping on Lundy and The Bunk House at Llwyn Celyn must be paid for in full at the time of booking.
  • If you wish to cancel or change your booking, please contact our Booking Office on 01628 825925
  • At the moment we only accept payment in sterling.
  • Our housekeeper will leave the key in a suitable place, the details of which will be sent to you prior to your stay.
  • It depends. Some of our most popular Landmarks are booked up a long time in advance, but many can be booked at short notice. We will always have Landmarks free for the coming weekend so it’s always worth checking our availability list.
  • No, Landmarks are available to be booked for anyone.
  • No, all the information you need can be found on our website, although we’d like you to buy one anyway as it will be a pleasure to own!
Staying at a Landmark
  • Some of our Landmarks are suitable for people with disabilities or limited mobility. However, many Landmarks have steep or narrow staircases, uneven floors and thresholds, changes of level, low ceilings or beams, as well as indistinct colours on steps and in corridors. We recommend that you call Booking Enquiries on 01628 825925 if you would like to find out the suitability of a particular Landmark for anyone with a specific disability.  Further information on access when visiting Lundy can also be found here.
  • Yes, Landmarks are only available as self-catering accommodation. We do not offer bed and breakfast.
  • Landmark does not provide catering, but we can recommend Greycoat Lumleys who can arrange for expert and well-trained staff to cater for one evening or for your entire holiday. Their cooks and chefs are able to work with you to meet your specific requirements
  • You may bring up to two dogs to properties where dogs are allowed (please see specific property details for exemptions however dogs are not permitted on Lundy except assistance dogs). They must be kept off the furniture and under proper control. A charge of £20 per stay is made for each dog. Please contact booking enquiries if a registered assistance dog is supporting one of the guests, for which there is no charge.
  • Apart from two dogs (see above) no other pets are permitted.
  • Arrival is from 4pm and departure is by 10am.
  • We do not carry insurance for breakages. However we appreciate that accidents do sometimes happen. If you have a breakage during your stay, please let the housekeeper know and if appropriate we reserve the right to invoice you accordingly.
  • Yes, most of our Landmarks are perfect for children, with gardens to play in and secret places to discover. Our furniture is surprisingly robust and we positively encourage families to stay. However, some of our buildings may not be suitable for small children; for example, some of them have steep or uneven spiral staircases. We recommend that you call the Booking Enquiries team if you would like to find out the suitability of any of our Landmarks for young children.
  • Unfortunately, most of our Landmarks are not licensed for weddings. However, you may get married on Lundy.
  • All our larger Landmarks are perfect for gatherings of family or friends. You may invite an additional two guests to visit you during your stay, however they must not stay overnight. This is very important because our fire regulations specifically note the maximum number of people in any one building. In addition our properties are prepared, furnished and equipped for the number of people specified and greater numbers cause damage and excessive wear and tear to vulnerable buildings. Should this condition be ignored we shall make a retrospective charge per person per day (whether or not they stay overnight) for each guest over the permitted limit, the charge being pro-rated on the total cost of your booking.
  • We deliberately do not provide televisions and find that most people appreciate this.
  • One of the challenges of restoring unloved buildings is gaining access to them. We frequently have to negotiate rights with our neighbours and share tracks with them. In many cases tracks do not belong to us and we have no right to maintain them. Wherever possible we work with our neighbours to provide you with a good quality surface, but where this is a problem then you will be warned at the time of booking.
  • Yes, we have standard electricity sockets for UK appliances. If you are coming from outside the UK, you will need to bring your own adaptor plug(s). If you are visiting one of our European properties we have standard European electricity sockets. If you are visiting from the UK, you will need to bring your own adapter plug (s).
  • Landmark’s electrical systems have not been designed to provide continuous power from one socket over several hours.  If an ordinary socket is used to charge an electric vehicle, there is significant risk of an electrical fire and consequent danger to life.  Therefore, we are unable to allow electric vehicle charging from most of our Landmarks at present.

    We are working to provide Type 2 Electric Vehicle charge points at our properties where there is private parking.  Where this is available, please request this facility when booking the property to ensure the outlet is enabled on your arrival.  There is a small charge to cover the cost of electricity provided.  Please book this facility in advance.
  • No, we do not allow smoking in any Landmark.
Facilities
  • Sometimes our kitchens and bathrooms have to be imaginatively fitted into the available space in buildings where before there were none, but they are all planned and equipped to a high and modern standard.
  • Yes, Landmarks are fully equipped with sheets and towels. All the beds are fully made up for your arrival. Except for the Llwyn Celyn Bunkhouse.
  • Yes, our kitchens are well equipped with cookers and fridges. There are freezers and dishwashers (in larger buildings) and, where space allows, microwaves as well as a wide and standard range of utensils. A full equipment list is available at time of booking.
  • Logs are provided at many of our Landmarks for an additional cost.
  • Mobile coverage varies. Some Landmarks have an excellent signal, but others have none at all. You can find those with 4G and 5G signal on our Landmarks with mobile signal page and each building has a link to signal checker in the Essential Information so you can check individual service providers' coverage in the area.
  • The majority of properties do not offer WiFi but many now have mobile coverage. Facilities in some properties rely on WiFi to function and we are currently piloting guest use of WiFi at a few of our buildings. We are going to extend the pilot across more properties and review customer feedback in 2025.
  • A welcome tray with tea and sugar awaits your arrival and you will find a pint of milk in the fridge. We also provide toilet rolls and a bar of soap per basin, but no other toiletries. Hairdryers are provided.

Do you have other questions?

Our Booking Enquiries team can help with information about each building.

Booking Enquiries
01628 825925
[email protected]

Opening hours
Monday to Friday 9am – 5pm


History

A late 15th-century timber chapel

St. Winifred's Well consists of two separate elements: the well itself and the little building over it. The spring of clear water has no doubt had a chamber of sorts around it for centuries, but the structures around it surviving today date from the late Middle Ages. What stands today at St. Winifred's Well is a very rare survival of a late 15th-century timber chapel, made all the more precious by its association with the well itself, with pilgrimage and the healing of the sick.

Certainty as to its nature emerged slowly. The building has been a cottage since the early 19th century and in secular use since the early 17th, so that alterations and repairs have occurred. An article by a local historian, Adolphus Dovaston, in 1886, quoting the notes of an 18th-century antiquarian, apparently provided authoritative written evidence conclusively ruling out the existence of a chapel on the site. A holy well there might have been, but the building was put up as a Court-house "over a well made for a bath for the Jones of Sandford". The medieval trusses incorporated in the building were, so argued Mr Dovaston, re-used from West Felton church.

On the other hand, a Survey of the Lordship of Oswestry of 1602 referred to Woolston Chapel; and the previous owner of the Well told of 16th-century graffiti found on the posts of the wing, found when removing old plaster.

It was only as we began to strip down the structure in preparation for its repair that its true nature emerged. First of all it became clear that the two main trusses, with their cusped struts, were not reused from somewhere else. They fitted their position and the rest of the timber frame very happily. All are typical of the late 15th century.

Then the moulded wall plate encircling the building appeared, again confirming this as one integral structure. The presence of an original doorway with decorated lintel at the west end and another door in the south wall for the priest (slightly to the east of the existing doorway) confirmed that this was an ecclesiastical building, not a dwelling. Details at the east end also indicated the existence of a retable, or altar back.

Examination of the frame confirmed that the projecting wing is also part of the original structure. The dressed stone supporting it appears to date from the 17th century and it was thought that the whole wing might therefore be an addition. However, it too has a chamfered wallplate consistent with the dating of the rest of the building, and the entrance to it is clearly marked in the interior of the chapel itself by a more elaborate moulding on the wallplate.

Due to later alterations the position of the original windows is not clear. It is likely that there would have been at least one in the south wall, and more than probable that there would have been at least a small window in the east end to light the altar. The dating of the whole building has since been confirmed by dendrochronology to c.1485.

Examination of the chapel's frame showed that at some period quite early in its history it suffered a period of deterioration and neglect. This would of course fit in well with the history of religious upheaval in the 16th century and with the suppression of pilgrimage and well worship as a result of the Reformation. That the well was still visited is born out, however, by the presence of graffiti of that period.

The history of Woolston's Well after the Reformation is typical of many such buildings, except in its survival. The next phase in fact follows Dovaston's theories quite happily but with the building of a court-house being a repair and re-use of the existing chapel rather than the putting up of a new structure. Many such buildings were put to a secular use at this period and the holding of a manorial court would be entirely in keeping with its long-established local importance.

Evidence of extensive repair in the early 17th century was found throughout the building. The insertion, or rather addition, of a bay window at the east end was no doubt part of this phase, as was the new stonework under the wing, partly no doubt to provide extra support, but also related to the creation of an additional pool.

Dovaston's antiquarian had said that the Court-house stood "over a well made for a bath for the Jones' of Sandford", who were granted the manor in 1613. Again, the adaptation and enlargement of a holy well to form a bath occurred elsewhere, at Ffynnon Fair in Flintshire for example; cold bathing was considered good for the health in the 17th and 18th centuries, so that in effect this was simply a rationalisation of the early belief in the healing qualities of water.

The private bath later became a public bathing place much frequented by local people. Ale houses apparently grew up nearby and no doubt revels and wakes were held there, as at many wells. Such promiscuous behaviour shocked local worthies and in about 1755 the use of the well was suppressed. This may have been the result of a new landlord who came into residence at Sandford in 1757 after a long period of absenteeism. The Court-house continued in use until 1824 after which the chapel was converted to domestic use, in which it has remained until the present day. To this phase in its history belong the inserted chimney and bread oven, the insertion of bricks in the frame instead of the traditional plaster infill and the pigsty which is now the bathroom.

In 1928 the cottage was bought from the farmer who owned it by Rev. Frank Taylor, Vicar of West Felton, who was concerned about its condition. He renewed the roof in about 1930. He used to come and sit at the chapel to read and compose his sermons. In about 1932 he gave St. Winifred's Well to his niece, Mary Taylor, who in 1936 became Mrs Ashby. The Ashbys planted the trees around the building and formed the large pool by damming the stream. They in turn handed the cottage on to their daughter, Margaret Phythian-Adams. She in turn sold it to the Landmark Trust in 1987.

A short history of St Winifred's Well

The full history album for St Winifred's Well

Restoration

The Landmark Trust bought St. Winifred's Well in 1987. Repairs were carried out under the supervision of the architect Andrew Thomas by a local building firm, I J Preece.

Having carried out a detailed examination of the building, to achieve an understanding of it, work was begun on the repair of the timber frame. The 19th-century brick panels were removed, so that all decayed joints could be repaired, with new timber pieced in as necessary. The bricks were then for the most part put back.

In the gable ends of the chapel and the whole of the wing, however, the upright posts of the frame are very thin, and the bricks projected in an unsightly way. In these cases the brick infill was replaced by split lath and a traditional daub, consisting of lime and sand, cow hair and a few handfuls of dung.

The 1930 roof was taken off.  Because the original roof structure had sagged and bent in places, the solution in 1930 had been to lay a new structure on top, building it up until it was entirely level and straight.  This detracted from the appearance of the building as seen in old photographs. 

Landmark decided instead to repair the original roof structure and provide a new roof cover of random slates, laid to the earlier, steeper, profile, irregularities in level included.

New windows have been fitted, their design copied from old photographs and drawings.  New oak floorboards were laid.  The interior of the building has been left as simple as possible.

It was possible to fit a kitchen into the wing, but it was clearly impossible to fit in a bathroom as well.  We did not want to add onto the building at all, and so a bathroom in a separate building was inevitable.  To this end, the old pigsty was brought into service.

Availability & booking

Select a changeover day to start your booking...

What's a changeover day? and Why can't I select other dates?Explain MoreQuestion

A changeover day is a particular day of the week when holidays start and end at our properties. These tend to be on a Friday or a Monday but can sometimes vary. All stays run from one changeover day until another changeover day.