Little John's Well (Stanbury)

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Approximte location of Little John's Well.

Little John's Well or one of the two neighbouring springs (from: Sutcliffe (1899); artist George Hering)

By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2013-08-04. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2018-03-02.

Sutcliffe (1899) seems to be the first source to mention Little John's Well high on Stanbury Moor. He notes that it and the neighbouring Robin Hood's Well and Will Scarlet's Well are "[h]alf-hidden underground, and fringed with fern and bog-weed". Robin Hood's Well is first mentioned around the middle of the 19th century.

Allusions

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, but see p 311 (2nd item) for Robin Hood's Well.

Sources

• Robin Hood’s Well, Stanbury Moor, West Yorkshire
• Sutcliffe, Halliwell. By Moor and Fell: Landscapes and Lang-Settle Lore from West Yorkshire (London, 1899).

Maps

Little John's and Will Scarlet's wells are not labelled on any of these maps.

• 25" O.S. maps (no map overlays as of 1 Jan. 20118) (georeferenced)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire 199 (1851; surveyed 1848)
• 6" O.S. map Lancashire LVII.SE (1895: rev. 1892) (springs indicated without labels)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CXCIX.SW & SE (1896; surveyed 1892)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire CXCIX.SW & SE (1910; rev. 1906)
• 6" O.S. map Lancashire LVII.SE (1915: rev. 1909-10)
• 6" O.S. map Lancashire LVII.SE (1915: rev. 1909-10) (georeferenced)
• 6" O.S. map Yorkshire LVII.SE (c. 1946; rev. 1910)
• 1:25,000 SD93 (1954; surveyed 1938) (wells shown and labelled "Sprs") (georeferenced)
• 1" O.S. Sheet 69 (Outline) (1899; rev. 1896) (wells not shown) (georeferenced)
• 1" O.S. Sheet 69 (Hills) (1899; rev. 1896) (wells not shown) (georeferenced)

Notes