The well that never freezes

Ahead is Stevington church, with a holy well flowing from beneath it that people say has never frozen and never run dry.

A spring rises from the limestone beneath St Mary's church at Stevington and flows out through an arch set into the churchyard wall. It is said never to have run dry or frozen, and in the Middle Ages its water was believed to cure eye complaints; pilgrims and invalids are said to have stayed at the old manor house to take it. Some researchers think the spot was sacred long before the church was built, perhaps as far back as the Iron Age. The well is a listed structure, and the rare butterbur plant, whose big leaves were once used to wrap butter, grows thickly around it.