Springs and Wells
Wells and springs in the New Forest were considered not only a source of water but also sacred, with cleansing and healing properties. The Abbots Well in Frogham was just one of these sacred wells, considered particularly auspicious due to its vantage point over Latchmore Brook beneath, which has its own rather sinister folklore.
This ancient dipping well was first recorded in 1215, although the natural spring that feeds the well is of course much older than even this. It emerges here on the plateau at Frogham, one of the highest points in the New Forest and is known for its ice-cold water that has ‘the cold feel of the deep rock within it‘. There are also a number of bronze-age burial mounds (locally known as butts) in the surrounding Forest, indicating this area was also anciently of spiritual importance.
Underground springs were also sometimes found in the New Forest by dowsing. Lt Col. Gerald Goff, an amateur historian, accounts how a ‘divining rod man‘…’a water wizard‘ named Mr A Berrow visited the village of Hale in 1888 to dowse. With the use of dowsing rods, he divined that an underwater spring ran through a particular field and explained that any well that was built there would never dry up.
– Vikki Bramshaw, author of the book ‘New Forest Folklore, Traditions & Charms’
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