Treacle well

`Once upon a time there were three little sisters,’ the Dormouse began in a great hurry; `and their names were Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie; and they lived at the bottom of a well–‘
`What did they live on?’ said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.
`They lived on treacle,’ said the Dormouse, after thinking a minute or two.
`They couldn’t have done that, you know,’ Alice gently remarked; `they’d have been ill.’
`So they were,’ said the Dormouse; `VERY ill.’
Alice tried to fancy to herself what such an extraordinary way of living would be like, but it puzzled her too much, so she went on: `But why did they live at the bottom of a well?’
…
The Dormouse took a minute or two to think about it, and then said, `It was a treacle-well.’
`There’s no such thing!’ Alice was beginning very angrily, but the Hatter and the March Hare went `Sh! sh!’ and the Dormouse sulkily remarked, `If you can’t be civil, you’d better finish the story for yourself.’
`No, please go on!’ Alice said very humbly; `I won’t interrupt again. I dare say there may be ONE.’

And so there is and this is it, in the churchyard of St Margaret’s small Norman church in Binsey, a village close to Oxford which I visited this afternoon.
 
Now, bear with me. This is comprehensible if you take a deep breath and relax. A glass of something or other is also permitted.
 
St Margaret was the daughter of a pagan priest in Antioch who disowned her when she converted to Christianity and consecrated her virginity to God. Soon after, she refused the marriage proposal of a Roman governor so he denounced her to the authorities as a Christian. She was tortured, during which Satan, in the shape of a dragon, swallowed her. She escaped alive when her cross irritated the dragon's innards but that was not much help and in AD 304, aged only 15, she was beheaded. Quite an eventful short life.
 
Skip forward to 670 or so. Frideswide was a Saxon princess who became a nun and took a vow of celibacy. When King Agar of Mercia asked to marry her she ran away and became a swineherd in woods near Oxford. Sounding familiar? Agar followed with an army to claim his prize but at the gates of Oxford lightning struck him blind. Frideswide, inexplicably, took pity on him and prayed to her similarly-pursued predecessor, Margaret, for his sight to be restored. A voice from the heavens told her to strike the ground nearby with her staff whereupon the earth opened up to reveal a small well. Frideswide bathed Agar’s eyes with its water, his sight was restored and Frideswide marked the miracle by establishing a priory next to the well and dedicating the chapel to St Margaret of Antioch.

In a move I don't quite understand, both these celibate women came to be associated with childbirth and the well became a site of pilgrimage for women seeking protection and help in conception and pregnancy. Allegedly Henry VIII brought Katherine of Aragon here to pray for a son.
 
So when did it start spouting treacle? It didn’t. ‘Treacle’ is a Middle English word from Old French triacle meaning an antidote against venom or a healing liquid and many of the holy wells visited for their curative properties in medieval England were known as treacle wells.
 
And the connection with Alice in Wonderland? There are two. The larger of the two communities Frideswide founded was on the site of what is now Christ Church in Oxford, where Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) later taught maths. And Alice Liddell’s tutor lived in the house right by St Margaret of Antioch’s church. Almost certainly Charles and Alice visited this well together.