Robin Hood'S Well

SE 2768 9/40

LINDRICK WITH STUDLEY ROYAL AND FOUNTAINS FOUNTAINS LANE (east side, off) Robin Hood's Well

GV II

Cover to spring. Probably late C18 or early C19 reusing stone from Fountains Abbey. Coursed squared gritstone. Round chamfered arch approximately 2 metres high under hood-mould with spiral stops, and short flanking walls protect a spring in a rock-cut recess. The water ran over a solid stone sill and into a grooved slab with a drain outlet. The water level is now below the sill. The stonework is similar to that in the C12 doorways of the abbey, but W H St John Hope did not show the well in his plan of the Abbey precinct (1900). The well is close to the probable position of a folly built by William Aislabie at the eastern limit of the abbey buildings after his purchase of them in 1768 (W T C Walker, personal communication). It is probable that the covering was built from medieval stones, the carved stops added, and the spring used as a place of refreshment by visitors from Studley Royal House. The association with Robin Hood is probably a C19 romance. W H St John Hope, Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire, 1900, pl.

Listing NGR: SE2767868292