Former Spa Well

The former Spa Well is a late 18th-century structure built of dressed sandstone with a stone slate roof. It was later altered and has historic significance within the development of Spittal as a spa resort in the early 19th century. The well head has a gabled front with a high ridge stone featuring trefoil-shaped moulding. The front is open with rounded jambs and a round-topped arch leading to the interior. Low stone retaining walls with chamfered cappings flank the front, and a flight of steps leads to higher ground to the left.

Inside, the well’s interior is apsidal, with a low stone platform beneath the water outlet, and a shallow basin within the paved area below. A more recent semicircle of paving extends from the structure, incorporating the outlet basin.

The well head is situated on a slight slope facing Main Street in Spittal, amidst open ground that includes a War Memorial and a second well structure likely linked to the memorial. Paths connect the well to the front grassy area.

The structure is stylistically dated to the late 18th century and was labelled ‘Spaw Well’ on a 1837 map. Spittal began developing as a resort in the early 19th century, with new buildings constructed to attract visitors for bathing and to drink the spa water, valued as a source of iron, lime, magnesia and sulphate of soda. The well was also marked on the 1866 Ordnance Survey map, by which time houses had begun to appear nearby. The area in front of the well was later developed with the War Memorial and another well.

The building is designated at Grade II for its late 18th or early 19th century date, its importance in the development of Spittal’s spa resort, its well-crafted Gothic style, reminiscent of a sculpture niche, and for its group value with the listed terrace and War Memorial.