The Nuns’ Well: The Last Remains of St Andrews Priory

The so-called Nuns’ Well in Ryedale is a peculiar sight, sitting incongruously among the trees¹NYMNPA HER Records (Monuments) Nuns’ Well at Arden HER No: 22137 
. A perfect circle, 2.4 metres across, with a stepped stone base and sides, it is thought to be medieval. Its water, fed by springs, is clear enough to impress those easily impressed by such things. It lies due north of the site of the Benedictine nunnery of St Andrews, which now languishes beneath the rather less inspiring seventeenth-century Arden Hall²NYMNPA HER Records (Monuments) Arden Hall HER No: 1101 
.

Perhaps the sisters used it as a jacuzzi. Maybe that pheasant did too, labouring under the tragic delusion that it was a duck, attempting a paddle and swiftly discovering the limits of its aquatic abilities. A hard lesson, but nature is rarely kind.

The nunnery was founded around 1147 by Peter de Hoton and, like so many others, was dissolved by Henry VIII in August 1536. At that time, there were six nuns, excluding the prioress and one other elderly sister, along with sixteen servants.

The well is one of only two surviving remains of the Priory, the other being a chimney breast now embedded in the Hall. This chimney, which still rises through three floors, is said to be subject to a quaint tradition: as long as it stands, the owner of Upsall must pay the lord of the manor £40 per year³Favourite Walks for Macmillan – Hawnby Ripon Gazette – 13 June 2003 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005349/20030613/193/0018?noTouch=true. Arden Hall itself is not considered remarkable, and one might describe it as rather oppressive—though whether that sensation stems from the architecture or the unsettling impression of being watched is open to interpretation.

• 1
  NYMNPA HER Records (Monuments) Nuns’ Well at Arden HER No: 22137 

• 2
  NYMNPA HER Records (Monuments) Arden Hall HER No: 1101 

• 3
  Favourite Walks for Macmillan – Hawnby Ripon Gazette – 13 June 2003 https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005349/20030613/193/0018?noTouch=true