This old holy well is located in the posh Sadler's Wells Theatre in the leafy London suburb of Islington.
From David Furlong's Holy Wells website: (
visit link)
"The concept of the ‘holy well’ or sacred healing spring dates back to Celtic times and before. As an important centre London had a number of ‘holy wells’ most of which, sadly, have long since disappeared. These pages are devoted to the spirits of water (undines) and to providing some up to date information about these sites. This is part of ongoing research and will be added to from time to time.
There are more than twenty holy wells or sacred springs connected with London. You can see the location and some information on all of these wells if you use Google Earth programme.
. . . .
Sadler’s Well, Rosebery Street, (TQ3145 8283)
The story of the well as it appears in the Sadler’s Well theatre is as follows:
*In June 1683 Dick Sadler, surveyor to the King, built a Musick-House near a country footpath leading from Clerkenwell to Islington. By chance, earlier that summer he had discovered a medieval well in the grounds of his house. Believing the waters to have miraculous medicinal powers, people flocked to Sadler’s Wells to enjoy musical entertainment and to stroll in the gardens and take the water.”
The well can still be seen today and has been incorporated into the new Sadler’s Wells Theatre."
A nearby interpretive sign reads as follows:
"SADLER’S WELLS
This building, which opened on 10th October 1998, is the fifth Sadler’s Wells Theatre to have been built on this historic area.
In June 1683, Dick Sadler built a Musick House near a country footpath leading from Clerkenwell to Islington. By chance, that summer he discovered a medieval well in the grounds of his house. Believing the waters to have miraculous medicinal powers, people flocked to Sadler’s Wells to enjoy the musical entertainment and to stroll in the gardens and take the waters.
Sadler himself claimed that drinking the water from the well would be effective against, “dropsy, jaundice, scurvy, green sickness and other distempers to which females are liable – ulcers, fits of the mother, virgin’s fever and hypochondriacal distemper.”
Water continues to flow from the aquifer beneath Sadler’s Wells. When the present building was constructed, it was the first in London to deploy its groundwater in the air conditioning system, an efficient and environmentally-friendly use of this historic resource.
In 2004 Sadler’s Wells entered into an agreement with Thames Water for the re-use of excess water flowing from the ground below the theatre, instead of continuing to allow it to drain wastefully away. Again, this agreement was the first of its kind in the UK.
You are now standing above the well originally unearthed by Dick Sadler.
This well has been generously supported by the Ulrich family."