Robin Hood's Well (Colwell)

Locality
Coordinate	55.068905, -2.073724
Adm. div.	Northumberland
Vicinity	550 m SSE of Colwell, Chollerton, on the east side of B6342
Type	Natural feature
Interest	Robin Hood name
Status	Extant
First Record	1866

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Robin Hood's Well is located a few meters east of the B6342. half a kilometer SSE of Colwell.

Robin Hood's Well, holy well in Northumberland / Courtesy Anne T.; c. 4 Sep. 2014. Used by permission of Andy Burnham, founder of The Megalithic Portal.

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-05-08. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2022-05-08. Photos and information courtesy Anne T., used with the kind permission of Andy Burnham, founder of The Megalithic Portal.

Situated some 550 metres south-southeast of Colwell (Chollerton), on the east side of the B6342, Robin Hood's Well is a medieval holy well whose Robin Hood-related name is first recorded in 1866.

The usually informative Heritage Gateway describes it as a 'piped spring' which is '[e]nclosed by a post and wire fence' and implies that it was considered a holy well in the Middle Ages but can offer little other information on this well. Robin Hood's Well is included on a list of sites in the vicinity of Swinburn Castle and briefly mentioned on a web page with historical information for tourists. The Megalithic Portal has a page on the well, which includes Anne T.'s excellent photos, which we are glad to be able to include here. So far we have found no 19th century literary allusions or descriptions of this well. The earliest record of the name 'Robin Hood's Well' as applied to this spring is a 6" O.S. map of the area published in 1866, based on a survey carried out in 1862. The well is indicated and labelled on 6" and 25" O.S. maps from this time until 1952 or later (see Maps below).

Gazetteers

• Not included in Dobson, R. B., ed.; Taylor, J., ed. Rymes of Robyn Hood: an Introduction to the English Outlaw (London, 1976), pp. 293-311.

Sources

• Heritage Gateway: Historic England Research Records: Monument Number 19055
• The Megalithic Portal: Robin Hood's Well (Chollerton).

Maps

• 6" O.S. map Northumberland LXXVII (1866; surveyed 1862)
• 6" O.S. map Northumberland LXXVII.SE (1897; rev. 1895)
• 6" O.S. map Northumberland LXXVII.SE (1897; rev. 1895) (georeferenced)
• 6" O.S. map Northumberland nLXXXII (1925; rev. 1920)
• 6" O.S. map Northumberland nLXXXII (1952; rev. 1946)
• 25" O.S. map Northumberland (Old Series) LXXVII.11 (c. 1866; surveyed c. 1861–62). No copy in NLS
• 25" O.S. map Northumberland (Old Series) LXXVII.11 (1896; rev. 1895) (georeferenced)
• 25" O.S. map Northumberland (Old Series) LXXVII.11 (1896; rev. 1895)
• 25" O.S. map Northumberland (New Series) LXXXII.4 (1922; rev. 1920).

Brief mention

• Megalithic Portal: Swinburn Castle
• Visitor.co.uk: Welcome to Hexham: Colwell & Great Swinburn.

Also see

• Places named Robin Hood's Well.

Notes

Image gallery

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  Robin Hood's Well, holy well in Northumberland / Courtesy Anne T.; c. 4 Sep. 2014. Used by permission of Andy Burnham, founder of The Megalithic Portal.

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  Robin Hood's Well seen from the B6342. A marker post is seen behind the pallett, near centre / Courtesy Anne T.; c. 4 Sep. 2014. Used by permission of Andy Burnham, founder of The Megalithic Portal.

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  Robin Hood's Well is in the area with the tall grass / Google Earth Street View.

 Northumberland place-names 

 Place-names