St Catharine’s Well, Eskdale

‘At the head of the charming valley of Eskdale stands the interesting little church dedicated to St. Catharine. Just outside the churchyard wall is St. Catharine’s Well. In olden times, on the feast-day of the saint the fairs were held on the north side of the chapel yard, when the usual commodities were bought and sold by the dalesmen. The font, which is a neat specimen of Early English style, bears St. Catharine’s wheel, as also does some very old glass in a few of the windows. To the north of the church is a rock called Bell Hill, where the chapel bell is said to have been hung. It is more likely a relic of the old fire-worship of Beltan, of which our pagan ancestors were so fond.’ [The Legendary Lore of the Holy Wells of England by Robert Charles Hope (1893)]