Hyssop Holme

As we were in the vicinity (buying wine at Majestic!), I suggested we go and look for a Well that I found out about a while back. So, in Carlisle, down below Cavendish Terrace, close to the Eden and by the Cricket Ground, we followed a riverside path through trees and eventually found the Well.( I have located it on the map.)
 
Hyssop Holme Well
It is rather nice, although in need of a bit of tidying up. Built of sandstone into a high bank, it has a recessed bowl and a dated keystone – 1817. There are steps down to the base of the well. Apparently it is a natural spring well, but there was no sign of any water running at the moment. There is a plaque nearby stating that it was restored in 1986 by Carlisle Keep Britain Tidy Group. In January this year I read a report in the local paper describing how a local history group had ‘discovered ‘ this ‘lost’ Well by clearing the undergrowth. They said at the time that it was in need of a bit of restoration – well it wouldn’t take much really.
 
The report made reference to the Well being a ‘holy well’ and having ‘mystical healing properties’, but I don’t know where this came from. And then I found a reference to its once supplying water to some baths nearby. Then I found a book written in 1844 that describes ‘a commodious plunge bath’ using water from the well. And yes there is a large pool just by the well that does seem to have been ‘made’ judging by the stonework. So that might be it. Then there is the name. Hyssop is a plant that is thought to have healing properties, so could it be that such a plant, or some member of the same family, was growing here. Another thing - Hyssop was used as a cleansing herb for temples and other sacred places; the word ‘Hyssop’ comes from the Greek word ‘azob’ – holy herb. And Hyssop baths were once used for the cure of rheumatism! So, what to make of all that!
 
It is also probably significant that the Well is virtually on the route of Hadrian’s Wall and close to where it is thought that there was a Roman crossing of the river. And it is close to the Cricket Ground where the Roman Bathhouse was recently found. Pheww!!
 

I did find flowers, but I think this is enough . . . !