Monument record MDR12989 - St Mary's Well (site of), King Street, Bakewell

St Mary's Well was described in 1897 as having been in use 'within the last 40 years', when it was situated at the end of a narrow passage in King Street that separated two buildings. A charter of Edward I refers to a 'tenement with edifices and other its appurtenancies in Baucquewell beside the Font of the Blessed Mary …'. In the later 16th century, access was through the entry of a house, according to the following Court Roll entry of April 22 1580: 'Item that yt shall be lawfull … to have free egresse and regresse betwene sonne Rising and sonne setinge to St Maries Well throughe they entrie of the house wherein one Raffe Whytley nowe dwelleth …'. (1) St Mary's Well was one of two main sources of water before the piped supply was provided for Bakewell in the 19th century. (2)